


those of great ambition

by SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife (KnightOfRage)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst and Humor, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, F/F, Friendship, M/M, Slow Burn, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-09-21 17:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 67,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9560135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightOfRage/pseuds/SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife
Summary: Yuuri thought that Hogwarts was stressful before the Triwizard Tournament started. But now he's struggling to find a balance between finishing his fifth year, being the Hogwarts champion, and dealing with his growing feelings for a wizard he's supposed to be competing against.Or...Yuuri Katsuki is probably a terrible Slytherin, but he's doing his best





	1. the goblet

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [En eux brûle la flamme de l'ambition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228765) by [Silu_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silu_chan/pseuds/Silu_chan)



_The Great Hall is empty._

_Above, the invisible ceiling shows a night sky scattered with stars and a sliver of moon. It’s enough to see by, just barely. The wooden house tables are edged in silver, but the rest of the room is thick with shadows._

_Yuuri Katsuki stands in the doorway, clutching his wand and scrap of paper, and takes a deep breath._

_The only other source of illumination in the room is along the far wall. It’s a cup, rough-hewn and worn, filled to the brim with blue flames._

_Yuuri walks towards it, steps slow and faltering. His footsteps and the softly crackling flames are the only sounds in the hall._

_He stands in front of the cup. Untold riches and eternal glory, the headmistress said, for whoever wins. Yuuri’s hands go tight around the scrap of paper with his name written on it._

_He stretches out his arm and, even though his hands shake, he doesn’t doubt the decision to let the piece of paper fall into the flames. The cup flares even more brightly blue and Yuuri jumps back, almost tripping on the hem of his robes._

_The cup crackles behind him, flames seeming somehow louder than they were before._

_Yuuri doesn’t look back as he makes his way out of the Great Hall._

_It’s stupid, he thinks to himself as he makes his way back to the dungeons._

_It’s not like the cup would actually pick someone like him._

**~~~~**

“The Triwizard Tournament?” Mari practically gasps when she sees Yuuri’s school letter. “ _Seriously_? This is so unfair!”

Mari and Yuuri were sitting together on the back porch, supposedly folding towels but actually just enjoying the late summer sunshine and some good gossip, when the family owl dropped out the sky. He was bearing a letter with Yuuri’s name that, after five years, is more or less familiar.

Or it was familiar until Mari snatched it away, opened it and started screeching.

“Hey, give that back!” Yuuri snatches his Hogwart’s letter back from his sister and scans it. Sure enough, the words Triwizard Tournament stand out boldly against the parchment.

“Of course it would be the year after I graduated.” Mari laments. “Ugh, Hogwarts is gonna be swarming with hot foreign wizards and I won’t even be there to appreciate it!”

Yuuri just hums a noise of assent, not really listening. He’s reading over the letter, which is longer this year than it usually is. It informs him that Hogwarts will be playing host to both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students this year while they have the Triwizard Tournament.

At fifteen, the letter helpfully informs, Yuuri is permitted to enter but not required.

“I thought they banned the tournament…” Yuuri says absently. He knows that they last one happened a long while ago, back before the last Dark Lord fell. He rubs his thumb on the parchment, scanning the notices that the quidditch season will be canceled (Leo and Phichit will both be crushed) and that the tournament doesn’t give them an excuse to slack on their studies. The rest of the letter is the standard fair; booklists and reminders not to use magic before coming back to school.

“You gonna enter, little bro?” Mari asks. He looks over at her. She’s watching him, head tilted to the side.

“You mean the tournament?”

"No, hippogriff racing." She says flatly. "Of course I mean the tournament!"

“Well,” Yuuri says, “Would you have?”

“Course.” She says easily. “But I’m a Gryffindor. I know your lot,” She reaches out to tap his nose, “Are less about doing dangerous stunts for no good reason.”

He scowls and shoves her hand away. “I don’t know if I’ll enter.” He says honestly, starting to fold up the letter. “Probably not.”

“Mmmm.” Mari squints at him. “Well, it’s your choice.” She stands up and stretches, probably getting ready to serve lunch, “But for the record, I think you’d be great.”

Yuuri doesn’t know how to answer her, so he just sits there wordlessly, still carefully folding the letter, as she goes back inside.

**~~~~**

For the rest of the summer, it seems like the Triwizard Tournament is the only thing on anyone’s mind.

Yuuko and Nishigori, the only other Hogwarts students who live in Hasetsu, show up to Yuuri’s house a few hours after the letters get delivered, buzzing with excitement. Together, the three of them walk down to the convenience store, attempting to stave off the sweat-sticky heat with water bottles and popsicles.

“We’re both entering, of course.” Nishigori tells him, gesturing towards Yuuko with a popsicle. They’re walking back home now and there are no muggles out so they can talk about the tournament without worry.

“It’ll be fun!” Yuuko agrees with a smile.

Yuuri could have guessed that. They’re both Gryffindors and this tournament seems like the most Gryffindor thing in the whole world. Not to mention, they’re both going into sixth year so they have a whole year more of magical experience than he does.

“How about you, Yuuri?” Yuuko asks, leaning in close enough that Yuuri can smell her fruity popsicle and can see the green flecks in her brown eyes, like leaves on the surface of a pond. He leans away, trying to stop the color rising in his cheeks.

“I don’t know.” He admits. “Pr-probably not.”

“Didn’t think so, buddy.” Nishigori claps him on the shoulder in a move that probably isn’t supposed to hurt, but does anyway. “You can sit in the stands and watch me win.”

“Uh, I think you mean watch _me_ win!” Yuuko says.

“I think you’d be a great champion, Yuu-chan.” Yuuri says automatically. Yuuko taught him how to do _wingardium leviosa_ back when he was still a first year and so she has earned his eternally loyalty.

“Ha! Yuuri’s cheering for me!”

“That’s just because he _likes_ you!”

“He does not!”

“Does too!”

Yuuri tunes out their bickering like usually does and checks his phone.

All of Yuuri’s half-blood and muggleborn schoolmates seem to have sent him texts or snapchats about the tournament. He frowns. This probably is going to get worse before it gets better.

**~~~~**

By the time Yuuri is boarding the Hogwart’s Express, feeling weary and jetlagged after taking a portkey from Japan to get to the station, he is thoroughly sick of all talk about the Triwizard Tournament. Yuuko and Nishigori, who took the same portkey he did, are talking about it now as they clamber onto the train after Yuuri.

“I think that once I win I’ll use the prize money to start my own magical dance troupe, with magical swans and phoenixes.” Yuuko sighs dreamily. “It’ll be just perfect.”

“Well, I’m going to spend my winnings on my own private island,” Nishigoiri says, “and no one will be allowed there but Gryffindors. Er, no offense Yuuri.”

Yuuri waves a hand. It’s fine, he’s used to both house discrimination and the way Yuuko and Nishigori get so wrapped up in needling each other that they forget all about him.

“I’m going to go see if I can find Phichit.” He says, “I’ll see you both later?”

“Sure!” Yuuko reaches out to hug him. “If you ever get lonely down in your dormitory, you can come and stay with us, no problem.”

Yuuri breathes in deep, enjoying the way her flowery perfume smells, before she lets him go. “Um, thanks, Yuu-chan.”

“See you, Yuuri.” Nishigori raises a stoic hand.

“Good luck with the tournament.” Yuuri says. He’s glad that Nishigori seems to over his old habit of calling Yuuri rude names. Maybe he’s growing up?

“Ha, like I need it.” He puffs out his chest. “You’ll be the one needing the luck, not me.”

Or maybe he’s not.

He waves to them one more time before heading down the train in hopes of finding Phichit. He turns at every flash of yellow, but none of the Hufflepuffs he sees are the one that he’s looking for.

He’s almost at the end of the train when he hears the sound of footsteps approaching fast. He turns around and...

“Yuuri!” All Yuuri sees is a flash of dark hair and a bright yellow tie before Phichit Chulanont tackles him in an enthusiastic hug. Yuuri barely manages to keep on his feet, but he finds himself smiling anyway.

“Hi, Phichit.” He says, squeezing Phichit once before letting go and taking a step back to look at him. He’s a bit taller than he was at the end of last term, enough that Yuuri has to look a little bit up to meet his eyes.

“Wait…” Yuuri frowns, “Are you taller than me now?”

Phichit puts a hand on top of his head and draws a line between himself and Yuuri. Sure enough, there’s a inch or so of empty space between his hand and the top of Yuuri’s head. “Ah!” He looks delighted. “I’m taller! I’m the tallest! Ha!”

“Phichit, it’s like an inch.”

“Shhhh, small best friend.” Phichit hushes him and pats his head, “I’ll protect you.”

Yuuri glowers at him and shoves the hand away. “An inch, Phichit.”

“Shhhhhh.”

Yuuri tries to keep frowning, but he can’t. He missed Phichit terribly over break. He shakes his head and grins. “I missed you.”

“Mmmhmm!” Phichit nods. “Me too! You need to come with me to Bangkok next summer...all of my sisters are dying to meet you!”

Yuuri has seen Phichit’s four muggle sisters over skype during the holidays before. Three are taller and older than him and one is younger and about the same height. They all have Phichit’s dark hair and wide smile.

“Um, maybe.”

Phichit just laughs, taking Yuuri by the hand and dragging him down the corridor. “I already have a compartment right here,” He gestures to a door a few feet away. “Leo and Guang Hong are already inside.”

Yuuri takes a deep breath. He usually gets along well with the rest of Phichit’s friends, but there’s the familiar stab of worry at the thought of seeing them. He’s been faintly anxious for the last week or so, though, so it doesn’t make things any worse.

Yuuri is used to this feeling by now. It happens every year, anxiety building and building like a fever beneath his skin. He’s never excited to come to Hogwarts. He loves it sure, but there are too many things he can’t plan for, too many people he doesn’t know well enough to be comfortable around. Hogwarts is interesting and exciting and unpredictable and sometimes Yuuri can’t handle all of that.

His mom practically had to drag him out of bed in the morning to get him to the portkey on time.

“Ready?” Phichit asks, one hand on the compartment door.

“I…” Yuuri swallows and then nods. “I’m ready.”

The door slides open and Yuuri sees that Guang Hong and Leo are already sitting inside. They’re side-by-side, sharing a box of Ice Mice and chatting about something, classes or quidditch maybe, but they stop and look up when Yuuri and Phichit step inside.

“Yuuri!” Leo waves. “Hey!”

“Yay Phichit found you!” Guang Hong says brightly.

“Hi Leo, hi Guang Hong.” Yuuri smiles a bit awkwardly and waves at both of them before dragging his trunk into the compartment after him. With some help from Phichit, he manages to get it all stowed away.

“So,” Leo asks once Yuuri’s finally sitting down, “How was your summer?”

“Um, good.” Yuuri says. “Quiet.”

“I’m jealous.” Guang Hong sighs. “My aunt and uncle came to stay with us and they brought all three of their noisy kids. I had to _share_ my _room_.” He says, making it clear that this is a Great Injustice.

“I’ve always shared a room.” Leo says with a shrug. “It’s not so bad.”

“With your brother?” Phichit asks and Leo nods.

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” Yuuri says. “Is he at Hogwarts?”

“Nah,” Leo says, “He decided on Ivermorny. We got invited to both, after all.”

“Right.” Yuuri and his sister were invited to Mahoutokoro, the Japanese wizarding school, as well as Hogwarts. In the end, they both decided to attend their mother’s alma mater across the sea instead of staying in Japan.

“Too bad they’re not one of the schools in the tournament, eh?” Phichit says, accepting a handful of Ice Mice from Guang Hong.

“Yeah.” Leo says. “But I’m looking forward to meeting students from Durmstrang. Apparently, their transfiguration skills are top notch.”

Guang Hong offers Yuuri the box of Ice Mice. Yuuri waves it away.

“Well,” Guang Hong says, closing the box, “Everybody I know says that Durmstrang has a dark reputation. Like, with dark magic and curses and stuff.”

Phichit huffs. “They say the same thing about Slytherin and look at Yuuri.” He gestures to Yuuri, like that proves his point.

Yuuri’s willing to admit it kind of does.

Guang Hong doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t push it any further. “Whatever.” He says. “It’ll be exciting no matter what.”

“Sure, but I’m still bummed about Quidditch being cancelled.” Leo sighs. “Gryffindor was gonna win for sure this year.”

“Oh, really?” Phichit teases. “Do you really think you could beat Hufflepuff? I mean, Hufflepuff has _me_.”

Leo shoves him and Phichit shoves him back and, predictably, it escalates from there.

Guang Hong rolls his eyes at them and turns to Yuuri. “Let them get it out of their systems, right?”

Yuuri smiles awkwardly. “Uh, yeah.” He’s never spent time with Guang Hong or Leo without Phichit as a buffer. He always feels uncomfortable talking to them, worried about saying the wrong thing or looking weird. It’s not like they’re friends. They just put up with him because he’s Phichit’s friend and they like Phichit.

“You’re old enough to enter the tournament, right?” Guang Hong asks, still looking at Yuuri.

“Um, yes, but I don’t…” Yuuri swallows. “I mean, I’m not sure if I will yet.”

Guang Hong nods. “I would need time to think about it if I was old enough.” He says. He, like Phichit, is a Hufflepuff. Yuuri is sure that most of them will be a bit more careful about entering than the Gryffindors like Leo, Yuuko and Nishigori will be.

“Well, I’m entering!” Leo announces, finally finished with his impromptu shoving match.

“Typical.” Sighs Guang Hong.

“Me too!” Phichit says, nudging Yuuri and ignoring Guang Hong.

“I’m still thinking about it.” Yuuri says, hands going up to worry his tie.

“That figures.” Leo says with a smile. “You’re meant to be clever, aren’t you?”

Yuuri tugs the tie, silver and green for his house colors, once more and then lets it go. “I guess.” He’s not sure if Leo is making fun of him or not. Yuuri has never been great in any subject at Hogwarts except for charms and no one really cares about charms.

Leo is smiling though and he’s always been a nice person, so Yuuri smiles back and tries to make himself stop worrying. It doesn’t really work, but it never does so he’s not too disappointed.

The rest of the train ride passes quickly, all four of them talking about the tournament until the sky outside of the window is dark and shot through with sunset colors. When the train finally pulls into the station in Hogsmead, the sky above is dark and starry.

Once they’re off the train the rest of the evening, the invisible carriages, the terrible welcome song, the sorting hat and the tiny first years getting separated into houses, goes like it usually does. Yuuri smiles at the housemates who greet him and answers their questions about his summer. He’s not close with them like he is with Phichit, but after five years of living together they all at least acknowledge him.

Yuuri is helping himself to dinner and wondering idly when the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will show up when one of his housemates throws an arm over his shoulder. Yuuri jumps in surprise and almost spills his pumpkin juice.

“C-Chris!” He sits straight-backed as Christophe Giacometti proceeds to drape himself over Yuuri’s shoulders like a large, needy cat.

“Yuuri.” Chris smiles at him, “I missed you over the summer, you know. You didn’t write me once! I was heartbroken.”

“You look fine to me.”

Chris shouts something dramatic in French and the rest of the table glances over, unimpressed but unsurprised. They are more than used to Chris’s dramatics by now. “You incurable minx, Yuuri Katsuki.” He sighs, a hand over his heart. “Someday I will have you.”

“Um.” Yuuri doesn’t really know how to respond so he takes a long sip of pumpkin juice. It would worry him more it Chris didn’t flirt with literally everyone literally all of the time. He decides to change the subject. “How was Switzerland, Chris?”

“Oh, lovely for the two weeks I spent there.” Chris says, helping himself to more roast chicken. “After that though my family had obligations all over. You’re from Japan, right?” Yuuri nods wordlessly. “We stopped in at the Yokai market in Tokyo for a bit. My parents had an investor to talk to or some such thing.” He waves a hand dismissively.

“R-right.” Yuuri says. He forgets sometimes that Chris’s family are some of the richest and influential purebloods in Europe. Most of his house is pureblooded anyway, but Chris is one of the ones who has family known throughout the wizarding world.

“And how was your summer, Yuuri?”

“Um, fine. Quiet.” Yuuri says and he’s going to say a bit more, but a loud voice from the head table cuts him off.

“If I could have your attention!” It’s Headmistress Minako, getting to her feet and casting a charm to amplify her voice. A hush falls over the students and they look towards the head table. There’s still a bit of chatter, but there’s never complete silence with a group of kids this big.

Chris lets Yuuri go to to look up at the head table, probably trying to justify his prefect status in front of the new first years. Yuuri is relieved. He likes Chris, really, but he’s just so...touchy. Like, all of the time.

“Welcome and welcome back to Hogwarts!” Headmistress Minako says. She’s dressed her in her usual dark robes, looking as ageless as ever. “I’m pleased to see each and every one of you.” There’s a faint smattering of applause before she continues. “Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that the Triwizard Tournament will take place this year at Hogwarts.”

The faint chatter picks up, becoming clearly audible.

_“Did she say…”_

_“Yes, didn’t you see the letter?”_

_“I wonder when the foreign students are getting here…”_

_“Durmstrang…”_

_“Beauxbatons…”_

“Quiet down!” Headmistress Minako’s voice, still magically loud from what Yuuri is pretty sure is a _sonorus_ , booms across the hall. The voices settle back down to an acceptable level. “Before we continue with our feast, I think we should welcome our guests for this year!” She gestures towards the back doors. “Please welcome the students from the Durmstrang Institute!”

The doors to the Great Hall slam open and a group of people march into the hall. The Durmstrang delegation is dressed in dark red uniforms with boxy, almost militaristic shoulders and long, sweeping cloaks. The group is made up of maybe two-dozen students, all taller and older-looking than Yuuri except for a skinny blond boy in the front who looks like he’s drowning in his uniform.

Yuuri looks at him curiously for a moment, noticing the way his lips are turned into a scowl and the way his eyes flash when looks around the hall. But then his attention is caught somewhere else and stays there. There is boy walking in the back, chattering with the Durmstrang headmaster, and he’s the most _beautiful_ thing that Yuuri has ever seen. He’s tall with a fall of bright silver hair and eyes that make Yuuri think of the ocean in Hasetsu.

“Oh.” Yuuri breathes very, very quietly.

“Oh, it’s Viktor!” Chris says from beside Yuuri, eyes also falling on the boy.

“You know him?” Yuuri is distracted enough by the boy’s silver hair and his shoulders, _gah_ , that he forgets to be nervous about talking to Chris.

“Mmhmm.” Chris hums. “Viktor Nikiforov, the darling of Russia. Our parents have had dealings before.” Yuuri takes that to mean that Viktor, like Chris, is from an old pureblood family. “Hold on.” He waves and shouts, “Viktor!” as the delegation passes.

Viktor glances over at his name, catches sight of Chris and he winks.

Yuuri’s face is so hot that he thinks he might actually pass out.

He doesn’t know what it is about this boy, about Viktor Nikiforov, that makes him incapable of looking away. But he can hardly make himself glance at the Beauxbaton students as they walk in, even when their arrival is heralded by an impressive explosion of magical fireworks.

“Yuuri.” Chris’s voice is soft and amused.

“Mmmm?” Yuuri is still watching as Viktor and his fellow Durmstrang students stand at the front of the hall and wait for the Beauxbaton students to join them. He’s the tallest one up there, even taller than his headmaster.

“You’re staring.” Chris murmurs.

Yuuri immediately blinks and looks down at his plate. “I...I…” He stammers, but he doesn’t have a good excused. Merlin, what was he _doing_? He can’t just go around staring at people! That’s weird! It’s so, so weird and he’s a freak and…

“You’re fine.” Chris says, still quiet and amused, and he pats Yuuri’s shoulder. “Viktor is impressive to look at, isn’t he?”

“I wasn’t…” Yuuri begins, but the Headmistress’s booming voice cuts him off before he can embarrass himself further.

“Once again, welcome to our guests! I would like to take this moment to thank Headmaster Yakov Feltsman and Headmistress Lilla Baranovska for accompanying their students all this way.” She stops and the hall applauds. The gruff-looking headmaster from Durmstrang raises his chin in acknowledgement and the graceful headmistress from Beaubaxton nods.

“I expect you all to be polite and courteous to our guests during their stay here!” The Headmistress continues. “If they have questions about anything, be sure to answer to the best of your ability. At Hogwarts, we pride ourselves on a diverse and welcoming student body from all over the world. Be sure to remember that!”

The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students seem to murmur amongst themselves at that. Yuuri knows from History of Magic and from things that Mari and his mom have said that Hogwart’s policy of welcoming students from all around the world isn’t shared by most other magic schools. Even Hogwarts only accepted British students until thirty or so years ago.

“Now!” Minako’s voice cuts through the low murmurs. “We should get the other preparations for the tournament underway. If you would, Celestino?”

Professor Celestino, the head of Hufflepuff and the charms professor, is floating an ornate, jewel-encrusted casket and pedestal across the hall. The whole hall seems to turn and watch as he lowers first the pedestal and then the wooden box on top of it against the far side of the hall. The hall is entirely silent for once as Celestino casts some sort of wordless charm to make the casket shiver and then shrink back into nothing.

Underneath the jewels is a rough-hewn cup made of wood. It’s unadorned and would be completely unremarkable if it wasn’t filled to the brim with crackling blue flames. Celestino steps back and a wave of gasps and quiet exclamations goes through the hall as everyone gets their first look.

“This is the Goblet of Fire.” The Headmistress says. “And it will be what chooses our three champions. One from Durmstrang,” The red-robed students cheer, “One from Beauxbatons,” The blue students cheer as well, “And one from Hogwarts.” The sea of black-robed students shout their approval.

Minako waves a hand. “Settle down.” Once they’re quiet, she continues. “The procedure for entry is simple. Just write your name on a piece of paper or parchment and drop it into the goblet. We are, however, including an age restriction. Without exception, only students fifteen and above may enter.”

“What!” A voice screeches and Yuuri, along with most of the other students, turns to see the tiny blond boy from Durmstrang with his hands balled into fists, eyes alight with anger. There’s a wave of snickers, but the boy doesn’t look deterred. He continues to glare, obviously furious.

“Yes, well,” Minako continues on, apparently deciding to ignore the outburst, “An age line will be set up and…”

“Yakov, you said I could enter!” The boy shouts at his headmaster .

“Yuri, be quiet!” Yakov grumbles.

“Oh, Yuri’s in _trouble_ ~” Viktor Nikiforov sings, grinning at the smaller boy.

The boy, also named Yuri apparently, snaps, “Shut up, Viktor! You’re not going to be champion! I am!”

“Both of you!” Yakov’s face is worryingly red, almost the same color as his students’ uniforms. “Shut up!”

Yuri and Viktor both shut up.

The snickering in the hall is louder this time.

“Is that all?” Minako asks drily.

“Yes.” Yakov rumbles, giving his students a glare that makes it clear that it had better be all. Yuri scowls at him. Viktor salutes.

Yuuri bites back a laugh.

“Well,” Minako says, “Before we all finish our feast and head to bed, I would like to warn all of you that entering this tournament isn’t something to be done lightly. If you are chosen as the champion for your school, you will face dangerous, even deadly, challenges. But,” And she stops here to smile, “If you win, the rewards will be great. The winner of the Triwizard Tournament receives untold riches and eternal glory, as well as the respect of the entire wizarding world.”

Yuuri feels a shiver go down his spine. Under the table, his hands ball into fists.

“Well.” The headmistress smiles. “I think I’ve given you all enough to think about for one night. Enjoy the food!”

The rest of the feast passes in blur. Yuuri usually adores the food that the house elves make (second only to his mother’s cooking, of course), but he’s too distracted to even focus on that. He heads towards the dungeons early, claiming exhaustion from the long day. He is very careful not to even glance towards Viktor Nikiforov or towards the cup full of dancing blue flames.

That night, his dreams are of ice.

**~~~~**

Contrary to expectations, hosting the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang doesn’t actually change much about daily life at Hogwarts. Yuuri continues to go to his classes, doing well in charms like he usually does and doing terribly in transfiguration like he usually does. He hangs out with Phichit, does homework and the days pass.

Phichit, still mourning his lost quidditch season, tries club after club in an attempt to find something to fill his free hours. So far he’s been through magical photography (not as good as instagram, apparently), gobstones (boring), wizard’s chess (more boring) and homework club (predictably the most boring). Yuuri would be fine with Phichit’s rotating interests if he was doing it alone, but Phichit drags Yuuri along to each and every club he joins.

“Yuuri!”

Yuuri looks up from his breakfast to see Phichit hurrying towards him. He tries to hide behind a massive stack of waffles.

“Yuuri, I can see you!”

Darn.

“What is it Phichit?” He asks, helping himself to one of the waffles. Thanks to the diverse student body, the breakfast table is full of breakfast foods from around the world. He can spot a large bowl miso soup behind a carafe of coffee and some khao tom by his elbow. Sweet breakfast foods, though, have really grown on him.

Phichit plops down beside him, ignoring the looks that the other Slytherins give him, and helps himself to some of the khao tom. “We’ve got plans tonight.” He informs Yuuri.

Yuuri looks warily at Phichit. “Plans?”

“Plans!” Phichit agrees cheerfully. “Oh, that waffle looks good. Can I have a bite?” Yuuri shrugs and Phichit stabs his fork into a bit of Yuuri’s waffle. “Mmmm, so sweet! The Americans got this right. Remind me to tell Leo thanks later.”

“I don’t think Leo invented waffles, Phichit.” Yuuri says.

Phichit helps himself to another bite of Yuuri’s waffle.

“Get your own!” Yuuri pulls his waffle protectively closer. Phichit is a menace.

“Oh, fine.” Phichit sighs. “So, what was I talking about?”

“Plans?” Yuuri supplies warily.

“Right! Plans!” Phichit grins. “They’re starting up dueling club again!”

Yuuri can see where this is going and he is not a fan. “No, Phichit.”

“I didn’t even ask you yet!”

“Still no.” Yuuri says decisively. “I don’t want to join dueling club.”

“Come on, Yuuri!” Phichit grabs his shoulder and shakes him a little. “It’ll be fun!”

“I don’t think that dueling is supposed to be fun, Phichit.” Yuuri sighs, but he considers it. Dueling is kind of interesting actually. He knows that there’s a lot of charmwork involved and Yuuri has always loved working with charms.

“Yuuri…”

“I don’t know…”

Phichit is good at figuring out when Yuuri is actually uncomfortable and when he’s being stubborn and right now it’s just stubbornness. “Just try it once?” He says. “And then I’ll stop asking, I promise.”

“I guess.” Yuuri finally caves.

“Hooray!” Phichit hugs him. “This is gonna be so much fun! I bet Guang Hong and Leo would want to join too. I’ll ask them later and…”

“Chulanont!” Celestino calls from the high table. “Are you changing houses?”

“No, Professor!” Phichit calls back. He flashes Yuuri a sheepish smile. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” Yuuri says. “Now go away! You’ll lose points!”

Phichit rolls his eyes, but heads back to his house table without stealing any more of Yuuri’s food. So...that’s good.

Yuuri finishes his breakfast in silence, finding a discarded Daily Prophet and scanning it absently as he eats. He heads off to his classes a bit later (double defense against the dark arts with the Gryffindors and then transfiguration with the Ravenclaws after lunch). It’s all of his worst subjects today, so he finds himself looking forward to dueling club just because it means that all of his classes will be over.

**~~~~**

Yuuri heads up from the dungeons alone that evening. He knows that a few of his housemates are attending dueling club too, but he doesn’t know any of them well enough to tag along with their groups as they make their way to the Great Hall. There’s a fairly large number. It’s probably going to be a big crowd.

He can understand why. People have been asking for the reinstatement of the dueling club for years now. It’s been banned since Yuuri’s third year after some Gryffindor managed to set the Great Hall on fire.

Yuuri doesn’t like house stereotypes much, but he will admit that the ones about Gryffindors setting stuff on fire are pretty accurate. Like, worryingly so.

He’s mentally reviewing his fireproofing charms when he hears someone shout “Yuuri!” He glances around to see Phichit standing near the entrance to the Great Hall along with Leo and Guang Hong.

“Hey!” Leo greets him.

“Oh, hi.” Yuuri says with a small smile. “Good to see you.”

“Yeah, it’s been what, five hours since defense let out?” He grins. “Today was so boring! I can’t wait until we’re done with all of this theory. I wanna try some spells.”

Yuuri just laughs and ducks his head. He likes theory better, honestly. There’s less chance for accidental injury that way.

They walk into the Great Hall along with the other students. The crowd is as big as Yuuri thought it would be. He keeps accidentally brushing people he doesn’t know. He bites out awkward apologies when they turn to look at him, keeps walking when they don’t.

Yuuri is surprised to see Beauxbatons blue and Durmstrang maroon mixed in with the sea of standard Hogwart’s black.

The transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor house, Professor Arch, is supervising dueling club. She’s a tall woman with half her head shaved and so many ear piercings that her ears look more metal than flesh. Yuuri is both very impressed by and very scared of Professor Arch.

“Let’s get started!” She calls. “I’m seeing a lot of new faces here tonight, good! Plenty from my house,” He pauses so the Gryffindors in the room can shout their approval back at her. She grins. “And some from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, not bad, not bad.” She folds her arms. “Okay. We’ll learn more about the specifics of dueling in later meetings, but for now I want you all to get a _feel_ for it. I’m going to have all of you try your hand at dueling tonight.”

“Is that really safe, Professor?” A Hufflepuff first year protests thinly.

Professor Arch laughs. “Don’t bust out any unforgivables or light anyone on fire and I’d say we’re all good.” She puts her hands on her hips. “Okay! Let’s get to it...split into pairs! If you can, stick with people in your year. I don’t wanna see any seventh years going at first years, got it?”

The crowd starts to shift around, people grabbing their friends and yearmates. The words ‘split into pairs’ are always a source of mild panic for Yuuri. In classes, he’s always the person who waits until the end when everyone else is already paired and then he has to work alone or with the Professor. He’s ready to slink back into the hallway before anyone notices, but Phichit catches him by the arm.

“Yuuri!” He says. “Where are you going? I need you to be my partner!”

“O-oh.” Yuuri feels himself blush. “Right. T-thanks, Phichit.”

“Come on!”

They take a few steps past Leo and Guang Hong, who are already testing each other with silly jinxes, and bow before taking the steps back to get a yard or two between them.

“Let’s go easy, okay?” Phichit says with a smile.

Yuuri twirls his wand and smirks. “If you want.”

“Oh, Yuuri’s full of himself today!” Leo calls from where he’s doing his best to dodge Guang Hong’s many jellylegs jinxes.

Yuuri doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t let himself be nervous either. He always feels more at home, more confident, more like himself, with his wand in hand.

“Ready?” He calls to Phichit.

“If you are!” Phichit grins, raising his wand.

They start off basic, disarming charms that are quickly blocked. Phichit shoots out a tickling jinx that Yuuri blocks with a shield charm. He flexes his fingers on his wand (10 inches, black walnut with a tengu feather core) and lets magic thrum through it and then back into his fingers.

Okay, okay, this is simple.

Just think about charms. Charms are easy. He can do charms.

“ _Spongify_!” He shouts, pointing at the ground under Phichit’s feet.

“ _Protego_!” Phichit tries to counter, but Yuuri’s spell is for the ground and Phichit’s shield only covers himself. The spell hits and Phichit wobbles and then falls as the flagstones beneath him turn to the consistency of jello.

“ _Incarerous_!” Yuuri flicks his wand and a thick rope appears, restraining Phichit at the ankles and wrists.

That’s that, then.

“Wow, Yuuri.” Leo and Guang Hong have stopped their duel and are staring at him. A few of the other students around them have stopped too and are looking at Phichit lying on the ground in ropes and Yuuri standing there unscatched.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Yuuri stammers, realizing that he’s left Phichit on the ground tied at the wrists and ankles, and waves his wand with a hurried, “ _Diffindo_!” The ropes snap and fall off instantly.

Phichit sits up on the still spongey ground and rubs his wrists. “I guess you win that one, huh?”

“That was pretty cool, Katsuki.” A fourth year ravenclaw that Yuuri doesn't know thumps him on the shoulder. “You’re a natural at this.”

“Yeah.” Leo agrees. “You’re good, Yuuri.”

“Ouch, my pride.” Phichit says, but he’s smiling. “You mind fixing the ground, Yuuri? I can’t remember the countercharm.”

“Right.” Yuuri jabs his wand and mutters the countercharm before walking over to help Phichit to his feet. “I really am sorry.” He says. “I didn’t mean to do all that, I guess I was just trying to do my best and I got carried away and…”

“Other people are trying their best too.” Phichit cuts him off, patting his shoulder. “You’re fine Yuuri, seriously.”

“Thanks.” Yuuri mumbles, glancing around the hall to look at the other dueling students. A girl a ways away from them moves and suddenly in a gap between students Yuuri can see Viktor Nikiforov.

He’s dueling with another of the Durmstrang contingent, a girl with a wicked grin and bright red hair who slashes her wand through the air like a sword. Viktor, though, counters it handily. From what Yuuri can tell from halfway across the room, his spellwork is both flashy and effective.

Yuuri watches in awe as VIktor casts a nonverbal shield charm and the girl’s latest attack bounces off in a shower of sparks.

“Yuuri!” Phicit’s voice makes him jump.

“Um!” Yuuri knows he’s blushing. “Sorry! I was just…”

Phichit grins. “The Durmstrang students are impressive, right?” He nudges Yuuri. “Think you could beat one of ‘em?”

“I…” Yuuri glances towards where he last saw Viktor and he almost jumps in shock when he sees that Viktor is looking back at him. He makes eye contact with Viktor for a moment that seems to stretch out long and then longer before…

“Yuuri!”

It breaks.

Yuuri blinks and looks back at Phichit. “What is it?” He feels like he just climbed out deep, cold water.

“Ready to try again?”

Yuuri shakes his head, trying to shake off the weight of Viktor’s gaze, and he levels his wand.

“Let’s go.”

**~~~~**

That night, Yuuri sneaks out of his dormitory after everyone else is asleep and makes his way to the great all to drop his name into the Goblet of Fire.

Once he gets back to his dorm and changes back into his pajamas, his heart is beating too hard for him to sleep. He stares at the canopy of his four-poster bed replaying what he just did over and over until dawn turns the black water outside of their windows into muggy grey.

“Oi, Katsuki.” One of his yearmates looks curiously at him. “You okay?”

Yuuri smiles wanly and makes a note to charm the circles out from under his eyes once he has a moment to himself. “I’m fine.”

~~~

Yuuri heads into charms about a week later to see a girl dressed in Beauxbatons blue standing in the front of the room, looking around curiously. He knows that the exchange students are attending classes with the seventh years, so he’s not sure what one of them is doing his his fifth-year charms class.

“We’re continuing practice on Freezing charms today!” Celestino says once the whole class has filed in and found seats. Yuuri knows he can’t be the only one looking curiously at the Beauxbatons girl. “Miss Crispino from Beauxbatons will be sitting in our next few charms lessons. Please answer any questions she might have.”

She smiles and waves at them. “Hello! I look forward to working with you all!”

“Go and pair up with Yuuri there.” Celestino waves towards him. “He’s one of my best charms students.”

“Wait…” In charms, Yuuri usually does the whole ‘there’s an odd number of students so I’ll work by myself’ thing since he doesn’t really know anyone in Ravenclaw, the house they share the class time with.

The rest of the class is shifting, getting into their own pairs, as the Beauxbatons girl heads over to Yuuri and takes the empty seat next to him.

“Hi! I’m Sara.” She says with a smile. “Sara Crispino.”

“Nice to meet you.” Yuuri says, shifting awkwardly in his seat. Sara Crispino is intimidatingly pretty, with her long dark hair and purple eyes. “I’m Yuuri Katsuki.”

“Nice to meet you, Yuuri.” She says. “I hope you don’t mind working with me. I’m good at almost everything else, but I’m terrible at charms...Celestino thought I could do with spending a couple of weeks in his lower level classes.”

“I’m sure you’re not that bad.” Yuuri says.

“Oh, you’ll see soon enough.” Sara says ominously. “Now, freezing charms, right?”

“Yeah.” Yuuri says. “Glacius. We’re supposed to freeze a bowl of water.” There’s a bowl, about ten inches deep, in front of each of them. “Um, do you want to go first?”

“Oh, no.” She shakes her head. “You go first. Professor Celestino said that I should watch you, if I wanted to improve.”

“O-okay.” Yuuri can feel himself blushing. “W-well, here I go then.” He tries to ignore her purple gaze and levels his wand at the bowl of water in front of him. “ _Glacius_!” He keeps the spell simple, just freezing the top inch or so. A glacius tria would freeze the water all the way through, but that’s not necessary right now. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s showing off.

“Oh, impressive Yuuri!” She beams at him.

“It’s nothing special…” He mumbles, but he can feel himself blushing.

“Now I’m going to try.” She lifts her wand with a flourish and says, “ _Glacius_!”

For a moment, the water does nothing. And then, it starts to boil.

“Um…” Yuuri just stares at it. He can feel the heat rising from it. “Maybe...try once more?”

“Okay.” Sara glowers at the bowl and takes a deep breath. “ _Glacius_!”

This time, the still boiling water explodes out of the bowl and flies all over the classroom.

Yuuri is about to cast a protego, but Celestino, with the reflexes of someone who has been preventing charm accidents in his classes for a long time, gets there first. “ _Protego_!” He shouts and a transparent shield goes over the class. The boiling water bounces off and lands harmlessly in the corners of the room.

“Careful, now.” Celestino chides.

Sara huffs. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” She drops her wand and drags her hands through her dark hair, visibly frustrated.

“Um…” Yuuri doesn’t want to criticize her, but he can tell pretty easily what she’s stuck on. Or, at least, he thinks he knows what she’s stuck on. It’s usually the same thing with people who are gifted in transfiguration. They try to apply that mindset to everything. Leo had the same problem in their third year.

“What is it, Yuuri?” Sara turns to him. “What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re trying to change what the water is.” He says with a shrug. “Like, you’re trying to transfigure it. When you do charms, you’re not changing it you’re adding properties. Like, with glacius you're adding cold to the target until it’s frozen. You’re not changing it into ice.”

“Huh.” Sara blinks. “That’s...I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She glances over at Yuuri. “Wow, I guess they weren’t kidding when they said Slytherins were cunning! You’re really good. I feel totally embarrassed now.”

“No, no, no!” He waves his hands. “No, I’m only good with charms. I’m completely terrible at transfiguration.”

“Oh,” She smiles. “Well that makes me feel a little better, then.”

Yuuri smiles and pushes the bowl towards her. “Want to try again?”

She picks her wand back up. “Of course!”

By the end of the lesson, Sara is managing to get most of the surface of the bowl of water frozen and, at her insistence, Yuuri shows her glacius tria and freezes the whole bowl solid.

“Yuuri!” She claps her hands. “That was magnífico!”

He blushes, but smiles. He likes Sara Crispino. She’s nice without being overbearing and is clearly a hard worker when it comes to magic. They walk out of class together once Celestino dismisses them and she tells him, “If you ever need help in transfiguration, come and find me! I would love to repay you for helping me.”

“Oh, thanks.” Yuuri is caught off guard by her offer, but it makes him smile. “Yeah...maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

“Do!” She says. “I’ll be here all year and I doubt I’ll be picked as champion, so I’ll have the free time and…”

“Sara!” A loud voice makes Yuuri jump and Sarra turn around, her smile slipping into a frown.

There’s a boy standing there, a bit taller than Yuuri and probably a bit older, who has a frown on his face and purple eyes like Sara’s. “Oh, hi Mickey.” Sara says, the laughter gone from her voice. She sounds tired.

“Where have you been?” He demands. “I couldn’t find you anywhere and now I catch you with some Hogwarts boy…”

“This is Yuuri, Mickey.” Sara says. “He was helping me with charms. Yuuri, this is my brother Mickey.”

“Nice to…” Yuuri begins, but Mickey cuts him off.

“Your charms are perfect, Sara.” He says sharply. “And even if you do need help, you should have asked your brother, not some strange boy!”

“He’s not strange, he’s nice and I…” Sara begins, but Mickey cuts her off too.

“We can talk about later.” The boy glowers at Yuuri and strides off, clearly expecting Sara to follow. “We’re going!”

“Sorry, Yuuri.” Sara sighs. “I’ll see you around?”

“Sure.” Yuuri says and he smiles at her before she turns and follows her brother down the corridor.

 

**~~~~**

 

Halloween seems to sneak up on Yuuri. It seems like one day it’s the beginning of September and the next it’s the end of October. He mentions it to Phichit, trying to keep his mind off of the feast and announcement of the champions that will happen later. He knows the goblet won’t pick him, he knows but...

“It’s always like that, though.” Phichit says absently. “The first couple months are gone like that.” He snaps his fingers.

Yuuri hums in agreement, pulling his coat tighter. There’s a chill in the air.

Yuuri, Phichit and Guang Hong are sitting out by the lake, bundled up in coats and warming charms, enjoying the sight of leaves that have turned bright and fiery. Across the lake, the Forbidden Forest is a riot of color interspersed with the dark green of pine trees. Other students dot the rocky lakeshore, some with blankets and others with thermoses of coffee or tea.

“Did you end up putting your name in the goblet, Yuuri?” Guang Hong asks curiously.

“Um…” Yuuri looks down at his hands. He’s wearing green mittens that his mother sent him for his birthday last year. They match his scarf almost perfectly.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want.” Phichit assures, thumping him on the arm.

“Oh, yeah, of course!” Guang Hong says.

“No, it’s fine.” Yuuri looks up. “I did, actually.”

“Ha, I knew you would!” Phichit beams at him. “If you get picked, I wanna lead your cheering section.”

That makes Yuuri laugh. “I think it’s more likely that you’ll get picked, Phichit.”

He shrugs. “Well you can lead my cheering section then.”

“I didn’t even get a chance to enter.” Guang Hong complains. “There’s no way I’ll have a cheering section.”

“Go out for quidditch next year.” Yuuri suggests. “You’ll get cheered for then.”

“I’m rubbish at flying.” He sighs. “Like, _phenomenally_ bad.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Guang Hong!” A voice from behind them says.

They turn around to see Leo climbing over the rocks, a thermos and some mugs in hand.

“Leo!” Guang Hong beams. “I thought you had to study!”

“It’s a holiday, so I figured a break was in order.” Leo says with a smile. “If you mention studying again I won’t share my nice, warm coffee with you.”

“You Americans and your coffee.” Guang Hong chides, but he takes the mug that Leo offers him with a smile and a blush.

“Oh, please give me some too!” Phichit says, eyes fixed on the thermos.

“I think Yuuri deserves it more.” Leo says, handing Yuuri the next mug.

“Oh, thanks.” Yuuri blinks in surprise as he accepts the mug from Leo. That was nice of him.

“Please, Leo. I am a tropical boy from a tropical climate.” Phichit says pitifully. “I wasn’t made for nasty weather. At least not nasty weather without hot drinks.”

“I’m gonna call you tropical boy forever now, that cool?” Leo says, pouring another mugful.

“Gimme coffee and you can call me whatever you want.” Phichit makes grabby hands and Leo hands the mug over, rolling his eyes.

“You’re so sad.” Leo says, pouring the last mug for himself and settling down besides Guang Hong.

“I don’t care, I got hot drinks out of it.”

Leo laughs. “So tell me, why were you guys talking about flying? You thinking of trying out Guang Hong, Yuuri?”

“I told you I was terrible.” Guang Hong says sheepishly.

“Uh, no.” Yuuri says. He’s always been of the opinion that there are more than enough ways that disaster could befall him with his feet planted firmly on the ground. No need to tempt fate by adding a fun new aerial ways to die.

“It was less about flying and more about cheering sections, to be honest.” Phichit says. “They’re preparing for when I become the Hogwarts Champion tonight!”

“Uh, I think you mean when I become the champion.” Leo says.

“My money’s on Yuuri.” Guang Hong says teasingly.

Leo raises an eyebrow. “You entered, then?”

Yuuri just nods and sips his drink so he has something to occupy himself with.

“Well, good luck to all three of us, then.” Leo says. “No hard feelings when I’m picked, though. Okay?”

Yuuri laughs, Guang Hong rolls his eyes and Phichit shoves him.

They linger together on the shore, looking for the giant squid and chatting absently about the tournament and classes, until the sun sinks and casts the lake into shades of gold. The rest of the students on the grounds start to get up and head inside. Yuuri, Phichit, Leo and Guang Hong follow.

It’s almost time for the feast, and the announcement of the triwizard champions, to begin.

They separate at the entrance to the Great Hall, all going to their own tables. The hall is already crowded, loud with excited voices. Yuuri goes and sits in his usual seat near the end of the Slytherin table, clenching and unclenching his hands and trying hard not to think.

“Happy Halloween, Yuuri!” Chris says, handing Yuuri a tray of sweets.

“You too, Chris.” Yuuri accepts the tray and grabs a handful before passing it on. “You entered the tournament, right?”

“A chance at eternal glory and fame?” Chris says and winks. “You know me so well, Yuuri my darling. Of course I entered.”

Yuuri smiles and shakes his head, helping himself to a cauldron cake. It’s Halloween, after all. If he can’t binge on sweets now, then what’s even the point? And besides, this will give him something to do besides quietly panicking.

The feast goes quicker than these feasts usually do, everyone’s eyes drawn to the crackling goblet. Yuuri eats mostly sweets and ends up feeling worryingly jittery. He’s as preoccupied by the goblet as everyone else. His name is in there, his name…

The hush falls over the students when two professors finally stand and, together, levitate the goblet and its pedestal to stand in the center of the hall, right in front of the head table.

“Well!” Headmistress Minako claps her hands. “I don’t think that this is the time for long speeches. I’m sure all of you remember the rules.” There’s a loud rumble of assent from the students. Minako cracks a smile. “As I suspected. Now, when your name is called, please come and stand at the front. Are you all prepared?”

A cheer rises from the hall, students and professors alike. Yuuri balls his hands into fists and tries not think about how fast his heart is beating, how rapid his breathing is. It’s fine, it’s fine. The goblet won’t pick him, there’s no way.

Minako stands and rounds the table, all eyes following her. She stops in front of the cup and takes out her wand. She taps the cup once and the brilliant blue flames suddenly flare bright scarlet. A single scrap of parchment flies out in a spew of sparks and Minako reaches out to catch it.

“First, the champion from Durmstrang.” She says, unfolding the parchment. “Viktor Nikiforov!”

The students from Durmstrang shout their approval. Yuuri looks over at them, watching as they all mob Viktor, patting his back and ruffling his hair. Viktor is grinning, his blue eyes flashing with triumph.

“Ah, good for him.” Chris says with a smile and Yuuri remembers that they know each other.

“Think he’ll win?” Yuuri asks, watching as Viktor gets up and heads towards the front. His school, aside from small, blond Yuri, is still cheering.

“Viktor is a talented wizard.” Says Chris thoughtfully. “He’ll give the other champions a hard time, no matter who they are.”

“Mmmm.” Yuuri keeps watching as Viktor shakes hands with his headmaster and then Minako. He’s still grinning, clearly thrilled.

Yuuri wonders if he’s scared or not. People do die in this tournament, after all.

“Congratulations, Mister Nikiforov.” Minako says. Viktor winks at her and there’s a smattering of laughter around the hall. His headmaster hits him upside the head and he pouts. Yuuri hides a smile behind a hand and Chris snickers.

“Now, for the Beauxbatons champion…” Headmistress Minako’s gaze fixes back on the goblet as the flames inside once again flare red. A piece of paper flies out and Minako grabs it before it can fall to the ground. She clears her throat and reads, “Sara Crispino!”

Yuuri claps just as loudly as the Beauxbatons students do. Sara will be a great champion, even if Yuuri’s a bit disappointed she probably won’t have time to teach him transfiguration. But there’s a commotion at the table when Sara tries to stand.

A boy has her arm in his hand and he won’t let her go. Yuuri recognizes Michele, her brother. He’s red faced and holding her tight. The rest of their delegation is leaning away, clearly unsure of what to do.

“No, she cannot be the champion!” He’s shouting, loud enough that the whole hall can hear. “I should do it for here, I should be able to protect…”

“Let me go, Mickey!” Sara snaps. “I’m the champion. Me!”

“No, Sara, I won’t let you!”

She wrenches her arm out of his grasp. “It’s not up to you.” She flounces away from him, up towards the front. A red-headed girl from the Durmstrang group lets out a loud cheer and, the awkward silence broken, the rest of the hall follows suit with clapping and cheers of their own. Yuuri shouts her name, blushing when Chris raises an eyebrow at him.

“You know her?” Chris asks.

“She sat in on my charms lesson the other day.” He says. “She’s nice.”

“Hmmm.” Chris squints at her as she shakes hands with her headmistress and then Minako. “We’ll see what she’s made of soon enough.” He looks back at Yuuri and grins. “Time for them to announce my name now.”

Oh, right. The Hogwarts champion is next.

Yuuri feels like time is moving weirdly, like things are too fast and too slow at the same time. The goblet won’t choose him, it won’t. But, strangely enough, something about that thought isn’t comforting. He looks down at the polished wooden surface of the table. He thinks of his sister telling him he’d be great, thinks of dueling Phichit and winning, thinks of Sara Crispino calling him magnífico, thinks of catching Viktor Nikiforov’s icy blue eyes from across a crowded hall.

He looks up from the table just in time to see the flames go scarlet and spit a last piece of paper out before winking out and dying. Without them, the Goblet of Fire is just an ordinary wooden cup.

Headmistress Minako catches the piece of paper. Yuuri can’t breathe.

“The Hogwarts champion!” She call, her voice ringing out through the hall, “Is Yuuri Katsuki!”

Yuuri feels, slowly but surely, as the whole hall turns to stare at him.

“Oh.”

 


	2. labyrinth

People are talking to Yuuri, but he can’t tell what they’re saying.

There’s a dull roar in his ears, making everything incomprehensible. Someone pats him on the shoulder, but still everything is slurry and blurred and nothing around seems real.

Headmistress Minako...she just said...it can’t be true, right? Yuuri has to have misheard her.

His hands seem alien, a million miles away.

He’s panicking, he realizes. Okay. This isn’t new, this has happened before. It never feels like he’ll get through it, but he always does.

Okay, okay. Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Yuuri closes his eyes, breathes deep and opens them again.

“Yuuri!”

Chris’s face is right in front of his, his eyes shadowed with worry.

“I’m fine.” He says automatically.

Okay. He has to get to the front of the hall. He shakes off Chris’s hands and pushes away from the table, getting to his feet. People are still clapping, screaming.

Yuuri’s steps up to the front are mechanical and halting, but he gets there. He gets to the front of the hall with Sara and Viktor and he turns to face the students. He feels strange and cold, almost disconnected from his body, like it doesn’t actually belong to him.

“One more round of applause for our champions!” Headmistress Minako says and the hall responds with clapping and cheers and shouts of their names all mingled together.

Even the gryffindor table is cheering, though they seem reluctant to do so. Yuuri looks around for familiar faces, for Phichit or Yuuko or Leo or Guang Hong or Chris, but they all seem to be swallowed up by the sea of black robes. The noise grows loud and then louder and Yuuri feels like he’s choking on the air he’s trying to breathe.

Okay, okay. Fuck. Okay. He can do this. Yuuri fixes his eyes on a random floating candle and keeps it there, not focusing on anything else. This will all be over soon. He just has the weather it. He _can_ weather this.

He’s the Hogwart’s Champion.

_Merlin_.

The heads of school lead them to a nearby classroom after the cheering dies down and the students have been dismissed for bed. Yuuri follows numbly, walking a little behind Sara and Viktor. No one is speaking and Yuuri is grateful for the silence after the chaos of the hall.

They step into the classroom and Minako raises her wand to light the lamps. It looks different without the students and with moonlight outside the high windows, but Yuuri recognizes the transfiguration classroom.

“Congratulations, you three.” Minako says, leaning up against the massive wooden desk at the front of the room. Her eyes flick to Yuuri for a moment and Yuuri wonders if she, like him, is wondering why the goblet picked a scrawny fifth year who was mostly rubbish at magic.

“Well.” Lilia says, tilting her head. “Have a seat.” The Beauxbatons headmistress is standing in the doorway, looking tall and intimidating.

Yuuri sits down in the front row. Sara shoots him a small smile and takes the desk next to him. Yuuri does his best to smile back, but he knows it must look like a grimace.

“That means you too, Vitya!” Yakov snaps.

Viktor, who is examining a large cage full of live doxies on the front desk, raises his hands in surrender and grins sheepishly. “Sorry, Yakov.” He says and plops down in the desk on Yuuri’s other side.

Yuuri tries to keep his freak-out small and internal. He is way over his daily freak-out quotient already.

Minako begins without prelude. “The first task will take place a month from today. You will be expected in my office at nine in the morning on that day. Understood?”

“And then what?” Sara frowns. “Do we get a hint or something?”

“The first task is a test of how well you can think on your feet, Crispino.” Lilia says sharply. “Do not disappoint us.”

Sara flushes. “Of course!”

“That’s...it?” Yuuri says hesitantly.

“That’s it.” Yakov confirms. “Don’t forget, all three of you signed up for this.”

Yuuri bites back a panicked laugh. Yeah, he signed up for this. Why in Merlin’s name did he sign up for this?

“Well, I guess that’s all for now.” Minako says, “If you have any more questions, go to your head of school. That means, Yuuri,” Yuuri jumps a little and looks at her. “My door is open for you. Understand?”

“Ah, yes.” Yuuri nods jerkily. “Thank you, headmistress.”

“You are with me, Crispino.” Lilia says. “Do your best.”

“Of course!” Sara says.

“And I suppose I’m stuck with you, Vitya.” Yakov grumbles.

“I love you too, Yakov.” Viktor says with a grin. Yakov snarls. Viktor winks at him.

Sara and Yuuri exchange a quick glance and then look away, overcome by giggles.

“Come on, then.” Minako leans away from the desk. “We all have places to be.”

Yakov and Lilia follow her, Yakov still grumbling about ungrateful idiots. They sweep out of the room together and then it’s just Yuuri, Sara and Viktor there, still sitting in a line.

“Yuuri!” Sara says, a smile on her lips. “I just knew it would be you!”

“Ahaha, well.” Yuuri rubs the back of his neck. “That makes one of us.”

That makes her laugh, like it was a joke. It really wasn’t a joke.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your names.” A voice on Yuuri’s side makes him look over. Viktor is sitting there, a polite smile on his lips. Merlin, he’s even better looking up close. How is this even possible?

“Yuuri,” Yuuri stammers, feeling stupid. “My name, that is. I’m Yuuri. Yuuri Katsuki.”

Viktor looks him up and down, eyes narrowing a bit. “How old are you?”

Yuuri feels his cheeks color. “Fifteen.”

“Hmmm.” Viktor blinks dismissively and looks past him to Sara. “And you are?”

“Sara Crispino.” She introduces herself. “I’m sixteen.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet both of you.” Viktor says. “Let’s have a good tournament, _da_?”

He gets up and leaves without saying anything else. Viktor didn’t seem to take either him or Sara seriously. The way he said ‘good tournament’ made it very clear that Viktor was very confident that he would be winning. And it makes Yuuri feel...he kind of feels…

“Yuuri?”

Insulted.

“Sorry, Sara.” He smiles at her, pushing the thoughts down. “What is it?”

“I think I’m heading off to bed.” She gets out of her chair and stand in front of his desk. She taps his nose with a finger. “Cheer up, Yuuri! You’re going to do great. After all, the goblet chose you for a reason, right?”

She leaves before he can come up with a good answer and Yuuri sits there in the classroom for a while, trying not to think. This whole day has left him rung-out and exhausted. He needs to get back to his dorm and sleep.

Maybe all of this will make sense in the morning. That or it will have been just a dream.

Yuuri sighs and summons the will to stand. He puts out the candles with a wave of his wand and heads out into the hall. It’s empty, no students or teachers anywhere to be seen. He makes his way down to the dungeons, hands in his pockets.

The entrance to the slytherin common room is a section of ordinary stone wall down in the dungeons. Unless someone knows exactly where, they could wander the dungeons for days without finding it. Yuuri got lost five times his first year trying to find it. It took him a seventh-year showing him a finding charm that would point him to his destination so he would stop yelling their password at random walls.

He remembers the charm, _viam invenire_ , find the way.

Now though, he makes his way to a familiar stretch of unmarked wall without help and murmurs the password, “ _Philautia_.”

The wall opens up and he steps through. He expects his house to be sleeping. They have classes in the morning, after all, and slytherins aren’t the sort of people who put their reputations at risk by partying on weeknights. No, they party on weekends like sensible people.

But when he steps into the common room, what looks like the entire house is waiting for him.

“Wha…” He doesn’t have time to get a whole word out before a wave of noise greets him.

“Yuuri!”

“Katsuki!”

“It’s him, it’s Katsuki!”

“Our Champion!”

There’s some clapping, a few cheers, as he’s ushered inside. A few more people say his name and call him champion.

“Hey Katsuki.” A seventh-year girl with a shock of red hair gestures towards the couch. “Your, ah, your _associates_ are here.”

The entire slytherin house turns together to stare at the collection of yellow, red and gold on their sofa like it’s a particularly stubborn stain. Yuuri, though, feels like he might start crying.

“P-Phichit? Leo? Guang Hong?” Yuuri blinks, not trusting his eyes. Leo, Phichit and Guang Hong are all sitting together, looking nervous, but determined. “What are you doing here?”

“We wanted to check if you were okay!” Phichit gets up off the couch and rushes to hug Yuuri. Yuuri hugs him back, hard, before letting go. This whole night has been too overwhelming.

“They followed a first-year down here and snuck in after her.” Chris says, from his place leaning by the fireplace. He probably means to look seductive, but in reality Yuuri’s just a bit worried he’s going to trip over his own elegantly-crossed feet and end up in the grate.

“It was a very devious move.” He goes on, giving the three who snuck in a wink. “I approve.”

“We just wanted to check on Yuuri.” Guang Hong says, sounding exasperated. “He looked shaky at the feast.”

“You okay, man?” Leo asks, his face pulled into a frown.

This...this isn’t something you do for someone who isn’t a friend. Yuuri takes a deep breath and manages a shaky smile that he actually means. “I’m fine.”

Maybe he’s been ignoring some stuff. Maybe Guang Hong and Leo are his friends after all.

“Hey, Yuuri?” Phichit is still standing right in front of him, his hands on Yuuri’s shoulders.

“Yeah?”

He grins. “Congratulations.”

Yuuri let out a little laugh. “Thanks, Phichit.”

“I’m a little jealous.” Leo says. “But you’re gonna do great.”

“Yeah, we’ll be cheering for you.” Guang Hong adds.

“I’m leading that cheering section.” Phichit says with a grin. “Don’t forget.”

“Yes, yes.” A seventh year slytherin waves a hand. “We’re all very proud of Yuuri. Now, I think the three of you need to get back to your houses before someone tries to claim that slytherin house is kidnapping people again.”

“ _Again_?” Guang Hong repeats, looking pale.

“He’s kidding.” Leo soothes, then looks over at the seventh year contemplatively. “Probably.” He amends.

Yuuri smiles and shakes his head. “Goodnight, guys. Thanks for coming.”

“Of course!” Phichit says, patting his arm. “We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” He waves as they all leave, feeling lighter than he has since before he was picked as the champion.

“Now that that’s dealt with,” Chris says with a smile once the wall closes again. “We should talk about the first task.”

“Uh...why?” Yuuri blinks, confused.

“Well,” One of Yuuri’s yearmates folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. “We’re going to help you obviously.”

“Yeah. If the winner isn’t me,” The red-headed seventh-year says, “Then it’s going to be someone from my house.”

“I can teach you curses, Katsuki.” Another student offers. “Nothing dark, just something to get a little leg up on the competition.”

“I’ll talk to some people, see if I can get some information on the first task.” A tiny blonde first-year girl says with a smile that’s honey-sweet and dangerous.

“T-thank you.” Yuuri manages to say. In five years, he’s never quite felt like part of his house. The other slytherins are amazing and driven and determined to get what they want and Yuuri is just...average. But they’re supporting him anyway, offering him help anyway.

“We have your back, Yuuri.” Chris says, his smile warm and not at all flirtatious. “You’re a member of our house, after all.” Behind Chris, he sees the rest of the house nodding their agreement. One of Yuuri’s yearmates claps him on the shoulder.

“We’ll see you win this.”

**~~~~**

Despite the assurances of his friends and his house, Yuuri can’t sleep. His whole body is filled with tension that doesn’t have any place to go, but still he lies down and tries to make himself fall asleep for hours.

He finally gives it up a few hours before dawn, changing into his robes in the dark and sneaking out the dorm without waking anyone up. It’s probably three in the morning and, other than a sixth-year snoring in an armchair by the fireplace, the common room is empty.

Yuuri knows the other houses have weird ideas about the slytherin common room, probably because it’s in the dungeons and under the lake, but he’s always liked it. He remembers coming here as a first year, absolutely terrified of course because he wasn’t in a house with his sister or with the kind Thai boy who he had shared a train compartment with. But the common room had soothed him, with it’s crackling fireplace, sumptuous green and silver decorations and huge, gilded glass windows that afforded a view of cold, clear water that seemed to go on forever.

He loved the view. He still does. And even though the water is pitch black outside, he stops for a second and puts a hand on the glass. It’s cool to the touch, so he leans to rest his forehead on it as well for a moment. It’s nice. Calming.

Yuuri eventually leans away with a sigh. He can’t just stay here and forget about his problems, even though he’d like to. He has an essay due in herbology, overdue transfiguration practice and he needs to write his parents and Mari to let them know that he’s the champion.

He’s the Hogwarts Champion. He’s been up all night thinking about it, repeating the words in his head until they stopped having a meaning, but it still doesn’t feel real.

He’s the Hogwarts Champion.

_Merlin_.

Yuuri grabs a roll of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink off of a table before he heads out of the common room. He has too much energy right now. He needs to move.

The hallways are dark and seem empty, but Yuuri knows that teachers and ghosts alike patrol in the hours that students are supposed to be asleep. He pulls out his wand and murmurs, “ _Dissimulo_ ,” tapping his wand on his head. A gross runny feeling, like a melting ice cube, shivers down his body. He glances at his own hands and when he finds them hard to see he nods, satisfied. Disillusionment charms are seventh-year level, but Yuuri learned them back in third year when Phichit was desperate for a way to sneak out to the quidditch pitch at night and practice his keeping skills.

Eventually Professor Celestino caught them at it, but when he saw Phichit flying he agreed not to give them detention if Phichit joined the hufflepuff quidditch team.

He also gave Yuuri some extra credit on his next exam for what he called, “impressive practical charmwork.”

So by now, disillusionment charms are simple. He slips through the hallways unnoticed, wandering without a real destination in mind. Eventually he reaches the astronomy tower. He sits on the top of the stairs, not going over to look out at the sky or the ground far below. Heights have never been something that he’s particularly fond of.

It’s cold, the bite of the approaching winter in the air. Yuuri casts a warming charm and pulls his robes a bit closer, annoyed at himself for not remembering a cloak. He can’t afford a cold right now. He’s the Hogwarts Champion. Everyone is going to be watching him.

There’s not any room for mistakes.

He sighs and spreads the parchment on the stone floor, wondering what to write. His father won’t understand. He’s a muggle and despite marrying a witch, he’s never been particularly interested in magic. Yuuri’s mother likely won’t care much either. She went to Hogwarts for school, but once she graduated she married a muggle, opened an inn with him and never really bothered with the magical world much. She only uses her magic to make the hot springs a little hotter or to make her katsudon just a bit more delicious.

Mari, though, she’ll be interested. She’ll either be excited or jealous, Yuuri isn’t sure. Maybe both. Either way, he thinks at he stares down at the blank parchment, they need to know.

He decides to keep it simple. He sticks to the facts and not how he feels about the facts. In the end, the letter is only a few lines. Well, it's better than nothing. He can write more later when he decides how he actually feels. For now, he’ll let them know what happened. He breathes and renews his warming charm, watching as the sun rises over the trees.

He’s the Hogwarts Champion.

The corners of his mouth turn up into a smile.

**~~~~**

A few days later, Yuuri is borderline tackled by a large Canadian wearing red and gold.

“Ah, Katsuki!” Hogwarts is a fairly large school, but everyone knows JJ Leory. The gryffindor Head Boy is very, well, _noticeable_ is probably the nicest way to say it. “There you are!” He claps Yuuri on the shoulder in a gesture that is probably meant to be friendly, but actually really hurts.

“Did you need something, JJ?” Yuuri asks, already mentally mapping out his escape. JJ has the same gleam in his eye that practically every gryffindor does lately, the one that means they are going to give him a lot of unsolicited advice about how to win the tournament.

Because they’re gryffindors, the advice usually involves casting ill-advised spells and lighting things on fire.

“The Headmistress sent me to fetch you!” JJ says with a grin.

“Headmistress Minako?” Yuuri almost drops his bag in surprise. “Why?”

“Some Triwizard thing.” JJ shrugs. “I dunno. I’m supposed to bring you to her, though.”

Yuuri just nods. “Okay. Let’s go.”

JJ leads the way. Before they’re gone ten feet, he glances over at Yuuri with that gleam in his eye and says, “You mind if I give you some advice?”

“Uh…” Says Yuuri because he does mind, but he doesn’t know how to say so without being rude.

“Great!” JJ claps him on the shoulder again. It hurts even worse this time. “Now in a duel I find what usually works is starting off with an _incendio_ and lighting your opponent's robes on fire…”

“Uh hu.” Yuuri says and promptly tunes him out. He’s gotten advice from every single person he knows and a lot more from people he doesn’t. Frankly, he’s getting a little sick of it. He hasn’t even done anything as champion yet and every person at Hogwarts seems to think that he needs their help.

He doesn’t need any help, not before the tournament has even properly started. He’s not that weak.

When they finally spot Minako waiting for them in the middle of a hallway, Yuuri says, “I’m good from here, thanks,” and hurries off before JJ can describe any more spells that Yuuri already knows.

“Ah, good!” Minako says when she sees him. “You’re here! Are you ready?”

“JJ didn’t say what I needed to do.” Yuuri sighs. “He just said ‘I dunno some Triwizard thing.’”

“He probably wasn’t the best choice for my messenger.” Minako admits, a faint smile on her lips. “But to clarify, you’re here to participate in the weighing of the wands.”

“Weighing of the wands?” He repeats cautiously.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal.” She waves a hand. “We just want to be sure that your wand is in working condition. Ollivander, one of the best wandmakers out there, is here to examine it for you.”

“I...see.” Yuuri says cautiously. "Okay." 

“Good.” Minako says. “Now follow me. Everyone else is already here.”

Together they walk a few steps down the hallway and into an empty classroom that Yuuri has never noticed before, let alone gone inside. It’s not that surprising. Hogwarts is a massive place, after all.

Yuuri’s fellow champions and their respective heads of school already there. Sara looks nervous, but Viktor is smiling. Honestly, Yuuri has never seen him not smiling. Other than them, there’s only one person in the room; a young black woman dressed in spangled purple robes sitting behind a long table.

“Yuuri!” Sara smiles brightly when she sees him. Yuuri waves.

“Ah, good.” Yakov rumbles. “That is all of us.”

“Shall we begin?” Lilia says.

There’s a faint murmur of assent and the room turns to face the woman sitting behind the table.

“I’m Alana Ollivander.” She says with a wave of her hand. “You’ve probably heard of me. I’m the foremost wand maker in Britain.”

“I thought you were older.” Lilia says doubtfully. “And a man.”

Ollivander laughs. “That was my grandfather, Headmistress. I’ve taken over the family business. No need to worry, though. He trained me himself.”

“I see.” Lilia nods.

“Now, are we ready to start, Champions?”

“Uh, sure.” Yuuri says.

“Okay.” Sara says.

“Ready!” Viktor says, standing straighter.

“Let’s start with you.” Ollivander points at Viktor. “The silver-haired one.”

“I’m Viktor.” He says with a heart-shaped smile, making his way up to the table where Ollivander is sitting. “Viktor Nikiforov.”

“Do you have any Veela blood, boy?” She asks, looking him up and down. Yuuri blinks, suddenly curious. He’s never met anyone with Veela blood before, but Viktor was certainly pretty enough to make it a possibility.

VIktor laughs and waves a hand. “I’m flattered you would think so, but no.”

“So the hair is dyed, then?”

“Ah, no.” He tucks a piece behind his ear. “It’s a family thing. The Nikiforovs have always had silver hair.”

“I see.” She sounds curious. “I wonder if it has magical properties. If you’d let me study it…” She shakes her head, refocusing. “But, for now,” Ollivander holds out a hand, “Your wand.”

Viktor holds out his wand. It’s long and pale with a hilt that’s tipped in gold.

“Ah, a pine wand!” Ollivander takes it from Viktor, twisting it this way and that. “You don’t see many of these anymore. Pine was popular about thirty years ago, but it’s fallen out of fashion a bit…”

“Well, I like it.” Viktor says with a charming shrug and equally charming smile.

Ollivander blinks up at him. “Oh, I meant no disrespect. Pine wands are lovely, great for nonverbal magic too.” She rubs the hilt with a thumb. “Twelve and a quarter inches, right?” Viktor nods. “And a unicorn hair core.”

“That’s right.” Viktor confirms.

“Was it made in Russia?” She asks.

“Ah, yes.” Viktor nods. “How did you know?”

She smiles. “They like their gold accents.” She twists her grip on it and nods, seemingly satisfied. “Well, it’s in excellent condition.” She flicks the wand and a bouquet of blue roses springs into being, impossible and lovely. “For you.” She gives them to Viktor.

“My thanks.” He beams at her, taking the flowers in one hand and the wand in the other. He steps away from the table, going back to stand by his headmaster. They make eye contact as he walks past and Yuuri hurriedly looks away, feeling awkward.

“The Hogwarts Champion next, then.” Ollivander says and Yuuri jumps a little before heading to the table.

“I’m Yuuri Katsuki.” He says with something between a bow and a nod. “Hello.”

“Your wand, Mister Katsuki?” She extends a hand. Yuuri grips his wand, feeling kind of uncomfortable about the whole thing. There’s a lot of folklore and tradition surrounding wands in Japan, folklore and tradition he’s doesn’t think most English wizards and witches share. Here, your wand is a tool. A tool that you’re fond of, sure, but a tool nonetheless. In Japan, wands are considered to be an extension of person’s magic, of their very being.

Most young Japanese witches and wizards have wands made specifically for them. Yuuri and Mari both went to the goblin markets in Tokyo when they were very small and had an old woman with a lifetime of wand making experience craft theirs from scratch. It took six months for Mari, almost two years for Yuuri.

Wands are intensely personal things. Letting someone else use it is an expression of absolute trust. Still, he doesn’t want to hold things up so Yuuri reluctantly hands his over to the witch he doesn’t know.

She shoots him a smile as she takes it. “I promise to treat it with respect.”

He relaxes a little and nods. “Thank you.”

“Black walnut…” She hums, running a finger along it. Yuuri’s spine is stiff and his shoulders are squared, but he nods. “A rare wood. Was this made in Japan?”

“Yes.” Yuuri says. “By Terashima-sensei in Tokyo.”

“A remarkable woman.” Ollivander says lightly, still focused on the wand. “Her works are always beautiful.” She taps her fingers on the wand. “Ten inches, if I’m not wrong, and a tengu feather core.”

“Yes.” Yuuri says again.

“Mmmm, it’s a good wand. Very adaptable.” She waves it once, wordlessly, and with a bang like a firecracker a fall of red and gold sparks rain from the tip. “It’s in excellent condition.” She hands it back with a smile. “Treat it well.”

“I will.” Yuuri takes it back with relief and nods to the woman. “Thank you.”

Ollivander waves a hand at his thanks and he steps away from the table, stowing his wand back in his robes before going back to lean against the back wall close to Minako. He watches as Ollivander calls up Sara and asks for her wand. He’s so focused that he doesn’t notice Viktor sidling up to him until the other boy speaks.

“So why did you enter?” Viktor asks.

“What?” Yuuri jumps, surprised that Viktor is bothering to talk to him. Yuuri is younger and plainer and just... _less_ than Viktor is. What does the other champion have to gain by being friendly?

“The tournament.” Viktor clarifies. “Why did you enter?”

“Oh…” Yuuri shifts uncomfortably. He really doesn’t want to tell Viktor ‘ _yeah it was a really stupid impulse decision, I’m still not sure if I even want to be the champion about half the time_.’ So instead he says in the flattest voice he can manage, “It was the eternal glory, I suppose.”

Viktor’s laugh is surprised out of him, louder than he probably meant for it to be. Both Minako and Yakov shoot them dirty looks. “Ah, well at least you’re honest about it.” Says Viktor, ignoring the way his headmaster is glaring.

“Mmmm.” Yuuri glances sidelong at Viktor. “So why did you enter?”

Viktor lets out a faint, amused hum. “Well, to win of course.”

Across the room, there’s a pop as a pair of doves fly from the end of Sara’s wand.

“Lovely!” Ollivander proclaims. “We have three wands in excellent shape. And three very interesting champions attached to those wands, if I do say so myself.” She smiles and Yuuri finds himself smiling back.

“Well, that’s everything for now, then.” Minako says. “We’ll contact you if there’s anything else we need.”

They all head towards the door, but Yuuri stops when Viktor taps him on the shoulder. “Good luck with your eternal glory, Yuuri.” He says with a grin. He holds out something in his hand and, more out of surprise than anything else, Yuuri takes it. It’s a blue rose, one of the ones from the bouquet still in his arms. “I’ll see you soon.”

He leaves Yuuri standing there clutching a blue rose, his heart beating alarmingly fast. He head towards the door in a daze. He’s never been given flowers before.

“Katsuki.” Ollivander grabs his wrist before he can follow the others out of the room and his trance breaks. Her grip isn’t tight, but he has to stop himself from yanking his hand away. “A word, if you have a minute.”

“Um, okay.” Yuuri says and he’s glad when she drops her grasp and stops touching him. They’re the only two people left in the room now.

“I just wanted to tell you something. A piece of advice, I guess.” He bites back an annoyed sigh. He’s so sick of advice he didn’t ask for. “You might know this already, but black walnut wands are sensitive to their caster’s emotions. Moreso than other wands, I mean.”

“Terushima-sensei mentioned something like that.” Yuuri says. “That my wand might not work as well if I didn’t believe in myself.”

“It’s something similar, yeah.” Ollivander agrees. “Certain wand woods are quirky like that. Dogwood wands won’t do nonverbal spells. Hawthorn wands have a tendency to backfire. And black walnut won’t work as well if you’re being self-deprecating.”

“ _Seriously_?” Yuuri’s voice cracks in the middle of the word and he feels himself flush. “T-that can happen?”

“That can happen.” Ollivander nods. “But remember, this wand is yours for a reason.”

“But what if I can’t…” Yuuri clutches his wand tighter. “What if I _can’t_ believe in myself?” He feels stupid saying it. It’s such a stupid problem, but he’s never been good at confidence and if his magic really depends on it…

“You’ve got it in yourself, kid. The wand wouldn’t be yours otherwise. And when you do figure it out?” She grins. “You’re gonna be a force to be reckoned with.”

**~~~~**

There’s a trip to Hogsmede scheduled for that weekend.

Usually, Yuuri goes with Phichit, Guang Hong and Leo, but today he’s homesick. He wants to talk to his parents and his sister, but they’re half a world away. So he does what he can. He finds Yuuko after dinner and asks if he can go with her to Hogsmede. She’s surprised, but she agrees, asking if they can bring Nishigori too. Yuuri nods and they make plans to meet in the Great Hall that Saturday morning.

Hopefully, it’ll help. It should. After all, Yuuko and Nishigori are the closest things to home that he has at Hogwarts.

They meet that morning and head out together. It’s cold outside today, the grounds frosted over thanks to the approaching winter. Yuuri tugs his cloak a little tighter.

It’s nice, walking with his two friends. He hasn’t really spent any time with Yuuko or Nishigori since leaving Hasetsu. When he’s at Hogwarts, Yuuri usually spends his time with Phichit and the others. But Nishigori and Yuuko were his first friends and he’s missed talking to them these last few weeks.

They make their way down to the little village and poke in a few shops. Yuuri buys a new pair of too-expensive fingerless black gloves at Gladrags, after Yuuko tells him that they “very cool.” He blushes. He’s still weak to her compliments.

They end up in the Three Broomsticks, eager to get out of the cold. Yuuri snags a table in the back corner while Nishigori and Yuuko go to the bar to get drinks. Yuuri watches them, head propped on a hand. Yuuko is wearing a red ribbon in her ponytail today. It looks nice.

They lean on the bar together and Nishigori puts a hand on top of Yuuko's. Yuuko doesn't pull away. Yuuri looks down at the table and tries to forget that he saw anything. 

They don’t stay at the bar long and Yuuri is relieved when they head back to him. He hates sitting alone.

“Congrats on becoming the champion, by the way.” Nishigori says as he sits down, handing Yuuri a butterbeer. He takes it gratefully and tries not to drink it too fast.

“Thanks.” He says with a small smile. “It’s weird, isn’t it? I think it’s weird.”

“It’s not weird!” Yuuko says, sitting on Yuuri’s other side. She beams at him. “You’re a great wizard Yuuri and you’ll be a great champion! Have you told your family about it?”

He nods. “They sent me back an owl congratulating me, but I don’t think any of them really understand what’s going on except for Mari.”

“You’re muggleborn, right.” Nishigori says.

“Half-blood.” Yuuri corrects. “My mom is a witch.” People, both here and at home, assume that he and his sister are muggleborn a lot because of his mother’s lack of involvement with the magical world. Her magic was never very strong in the first place, either. She doesn’t live all that differently than a muggle.

Yuuko winces on Nishigori’s behalf. “Sorry, Yuuri.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Nishigori adds hastily.

Yuuri just shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. She said she was proud of me in the letter, so…” He trails off. He’s pretty sure she’d be less proud of him if she knew how dangerous this tournament was supposed to be, but he’s keeping that to himself.

No need for her to worry just yet. He hasn’t even done the first task yet.

“Have you guys done anything yet?” Nishigori says after a few minutes. “Other than, like, being picked?”

“We did a wand inspection thing a few days ago.” Yuuri says.

“So you’ve talked to the other champions, right?” Yuuko asks curiously.

He nods. “Yeah. Sara seems really nice, actually.”

“How about Viktor?” Yuuko prods with a grin.

“W-what about him?” Yuuri manages to get out. He still has the blue rose in the drawer of his bedside table. It hasn’t wilted.

“Half of the school is in love with him.” Yuuko says.

Nishigori side-eyes her. “Are you in love with him?”

“Eh,” Yuuko shrugs. “You can’t deny that he’s _awfully_ pretty.”

“Yuuko!” Nishigori chides while Yuuri almost spills his butterbeer down his front in a fit of giggles at the look on Nishigori's face.

“C’mon, Yuuri!” Yuuko demands. “What’s he like?”

“I’m not sure, actually.” Yuuri fidgets a bit, peeling the edge of the label of his butterbeer bottle. “I’ve only talked to him like twice, anyway. And I can’t figure anything out about him.”

“What do you mean?” Yuuko says with a frown.

“I mean, obviously he’s an impressive wizard.” Yuuri says, “He was picked as the Durmstrang Champion and he’s older...” He trails off. He doesn’t actually know that much about Viktor, truth be told. “But he seems kind of arrogant too. When he talked, he seemed sure that he’s going to win the tournament.” He bites his lip and then lets it go. “We haven’t even started yet.”

“Wait, you think you can really win?” Nishigori says. “That you can beat him and Crispino?”

“I…” Yuuri looks down at his bottle. “I mean, I’m going to try.”

A hand thumps him on the back and Yuuri jumps just a bit. “Well, good for you, man.” Nishigori says. “We’ve got your back, if you ever need us.”

“Of course!” Yuuko adds.

Yuuri smiles. “Thanks, guys.”

It’s not quite home, but it’s close enough.

**~~~~**

Despite Yuuri’s protests that he’s too busy, Phichit still drags him to dueling club twice a week.

“It’s fun and you’re great at it!” Phichit says as they walk into the Great Hall, already half-filled with club members.

“I’m not that good…” Yuuri insists, but Phichit cuts him off.

“You are! Even Professor Arch is impressed.” He says. Yuuri rolls his eyes because, okay, maybe Professor Arch complimented his quick spellcasting one time, but that certainly doesn’t mean that she’s _impressed_ with him…

“C’mon, you’ve gotta…” Phichit is saying, but a voice cuts him off.

“Yuuri?” It’s loud and curled in a Russian accent.

Yuuri whirls around to see VIktor Nikiforov standing there, smiling slightly. “Uh...hi, VIktor.”

“Hi, Yuuri.” His smile widens a bit. “You’re in the dueling club?”

“Yes?” Yuuri says it like a question and flushes, knowing he probably looks pretty stupid.

Viktor laughs a little. “You don’t sound too sure.”

“Well, um, I only joined because my friend wanted me to.” Yuuri says, waving a hand awkwardly.

“Hello!” Phichit says with a wave of his hand. “I’m the friend. Phichit Chulanont.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” VIktor tilts his head. “I’m Viktor. Viktor Nikiforov.”

Phichit laughs. “I know.”

Viktor grins. “Ha, I suppose being a champion has its perks. Isn’t that right, Yuuri?”

“Um, I…I guess?”

“I am surprised to see you here, though.” Viktor says, looking Yuuri up and down. “You don’t seem like the dueling type.”

“He’s good, actually.” Phichit brags for him because Phichit is the worst. “Very good.”

“Oh?” Viktor blue eyes gleam. “Is that so?”

“No.” Says Yuuri.

“Yes.” Says Phichit.

“Would you want to partner up with me today?” Viktor asks. “I think it might be fun.”

“Oh, I usually partner with Phichit…” Yuuri says, but Phichit is still busy being the worst so he shakes his head.

“I’ll go bother Seung-Gil and he’ll partner with me.” He sounds awfully confident considering the ravenclaw boy he’s talking about once hid in a broom closet to avoid Phichit's aggressive friendship. “Have fun Yuuri!” He wanders away before Yuuri can even protest.

“Great!” Viktor says brightly. “Come on, I want you to meet some other people from Durmstrang!”

“Uh…” Yuuri blinks. “Okay.”

Viktor starts picking his way through the crowd and Yuuri easily follows. Viktor is one of the tallest people in the crowd.

“It seems strange to me that here dueling is only a club.” Viktor says conversationally. “At Durmstrang, it is considered a thing of utmost importance.”

“Really?”

VIktor nods. “We have dueling classes from the time that we first come to school. I’m top of my class, of course.” He winks at Yuuri.

Yuuri stifles a laugh. “Of course.”

They reach a group of students dressed in Durmstrang colors. Yuuri is introduced to Mila, who has red hair and a ready smile, Geogi, who is wearing too much eyeliner and a frown, and Yuri, who is small, blond and angry.

“Um, hello.” Yuuri says and gives them all a little bow. His manners tend to default to Japanese when he’s nervous.

“Aw, he’s cute!” Mila says. “You’re cute!”

“Uh…” Yuuri’s not sure how to react to that.

“Psh.” Yuri folds his arms and glowers. “He’s a stupid name-stealer is what he is.”

“Yuuri is older than you, though.” Mila says. “He was Yuuri first.”

“Shut up, hag.” Yuri snaps.

“Make me!” Mila sings.

Geogi sighs heavily. “Anya used to make me do things.”

“So!” Viktor claps his hand. “These are my friends!”

Yuuri blinks, feeling a little shell-shocked. “Um...okay.”

Viktor laughs. “They grow on you, I promise.”

Yuuri decides to take his word for it.

“Oh, hey!” Mila snaps, apparently realizing something. “You’re the Hogwarts Champion, right?”

“Yes.” Yuuri nods.

“Do you know Sara Crispino?” She asks eagerly.

“Not this again…” Yuri huffs, but Mila ignores him.

“So do you?” She prompts.

“Yeah?” Yuuri blinks, a little confused. “We’ve talked a couple of times. She’s nice.”

“Is she as pretty up close?” Mila asks.

“I g-guess.” Yuuri manages to say. “She has nice eyes.” He adds because she does. 

“ _Right_?” Mila gushes. “We’re in the same herbology class...she’s across the table from me, but whenever I try to talk to her, her brother butts in.” She sighs. “It’s tragic.”

“You’re tragic.” Yuri mumbles.

“Tragic?” Geogi repeats in a disbelieving voice. “ _Tragic_? Nothing will ever be as _tragic_ as the time that Anya…”

Yuuri doesn’t learn what’s tragic about Anya, whoever that is, because Professor Arch’s magically loud voice booms across the hall. By now, the routine is familiar. She tells them to pair up and gives them sometime to work on. Today, it’s protective spells.

Yuuri relaxes a bit. He’s comfortable with shield charms, at least.

“Ready, Yuuri?” Viktor asks, face close to Yuuri’s. Yuuri swallows hard. Sara Crispino isn’t the only one with exceptionally pretty eyes.

“Okay.”

They walk a little ways and then separate, a few yard of space in between them. Yuuri bows and VIktor follows suit, his bow crisp and clean. He’s experienced, that much is clear. He takes out his wand (long, pine, tipped at the hilt with gold) and he smiles. “Are you prepared?”

Yuuri just nods and tightens his grip on his own wand. He can do this. He can. Defensive magic means charms and he’s not bad at charms. He’s going to be able to do this.

Viktor raises his wand.

He hopes.

“ _Expelliarmus_!” Viktor starts simple with a disarming spell and Yuuri slashes his wand as soon at he moves.

“ _Protego_!” Viktor’s spell bounces of the shield harmlessly. He points his own wand at Viktor and sends out a jelly-legs jinx. Jinxes aren’t his specialty, but jelly-legs doesn’t have a wand motion beyond pointing, so it’s a quick cast.

But Viktor manages to catch it, just barely, on a nonverbal shield charm.

“Your reflexes are good, Yuuri!” Viktor looks pleased and surprised. “You almost got me that time.”

Yuuri blushes with pleasure, but doesn’t lower his wand. “We’re not done yet, right?”

Viktor beams. “I’ll get you this time, Yuuri.”

“You can try.” Yuuri grins and he has no idea where this confidence is coming from, but it feels good. His wand feels light and lively, like it’s pulling pure magic from his veins.

They duel, sending spells back and forth, occasionally hitting each other, but usually catching them on shield charms. It’s fun. Yuuri doesn’t like to admit he likes dueling, but he really does. VIktor is grinning wide and Yuuri feels amazing, he feels like magic.

He knows that people are stopping to watch them, knows that there are occasional gasps and cheers, but he’s too focused on Viktor to get nervous. He can’t look away, not for a second, or Viktor will win.

And Yuuri, he viscerally _wants to win_. He remembers the sorting hat, all of those years ago, whispering in his ear. He remembers thinking that ambition and pride weren’t for him, not really.

But maybe they could be.

They duel until Arch’s voice booms over the hall, telling them to drop their wands. Yuuri is sweaty and exhausted, but exhilarated. His hands are buzzing with magic and he doesn’t even mind that people are looking at him.

“Good duel.” He tells Viktor with a grin.

Viktor laughs. “Yes it was! You know, I thought this tournament was going to be easy, but maybe I was wrong!”

Something twists inside of Yuuri and that feeling from their first meeting is back. Viktor’s tone is so dismissive. And Yuuri...he’s _mad_. He closes the distance between them, walking so he’s right in front of Viktor.

“I’m a Champion too, Viktor.” He says and his voice comes out surprisingly level. “And so is Sara. We were chosen, same as you.”

“I…I know.” Viktor stops, blinks. “I didn’t mean…”

“Yeah you did.” Yuuri says and _what the hell what is he doing_. “But you know what?” He leans in, close enough that he can see the the faint silvery flecks in Viktor’s eyes. “It’s not going to stop me from winning.”

He turns away, face burning, and hurries away before Viktor or his friends can respond. The hall is steadily emptying as people head off to bed, so Yuuri mixes in with the departing crowd and hurries off towards the closest bathroom he can find.

He stands in front of the mirror and stares at his reflection, absolutely horrified. Did he really just _shit-talk Viktor Nikiforov_? What the hell is wrong with him? Viktor is a pureblood from a well-known powerful pureblood family. He’s seventeen, an adult, and a skilled wizard. And, all of that aside, he was being nice to Yuuri! He was being nice to Yuuri and Yuuri was such a dick.

“Oh, Merlin…” He moans, hiding his face in his hands.

What is _wrong_ with him?

When he finally summons the courage to leave the bathroom and go back to his dorm, he wistfully kisses the possibility of a friendship with Viktor Nikiforov goodbye. Viktor will never want to talk to him again and Yuuri will die alone, probably in the next couple months because he’s a bad wizard with a dumb wand that makes him a bad wizard because he thinks he is.

Ugh.

He collapses into his bed that night and wishes that he never had to leave ever again.

**~~~~**

Yuuri isn’t having a great day.

He’s reaching the end of a double transfiguration lesson and he still hasn’t managed to fully transform his tortoise into a tea kettle. Almost everyone else in the lesson has managed it, but all Yuuri’s managed is to create a pastel tortoise who wanders around his desk and occasionally breathes out puffs of steam.

He wants to bang his wand on the table until it works right. He’s supposed to be good at magic. Why isn’t this working?

The rest of the class has to be staring at him. He can feel all of their eyes on him, hear all of their thoughts.

_This is our champion?_ Really?

Yuuri glares down at the table. He can’t afford any mistakes right now. Why can’t he do this one simple, stupid thing?

He’s so frustrated by the end of the lesson that he’s either ready to cry or hit something. Maybe both. He heads out into the hall, fully prepared to skip dinner so he can just go to bed, but a voice stops him.

“Yuuri.”

He looks over to see Chris artfully posed against the wall outside of his classroom.

“What is it, Chris?” He asks and from the way Chris’s eyes go wide, he knows he sounds snappish and rude. He takes a deep breath, tries to calm down. It doesn’t work.

“Well,” Chris straightens up a bit and stands more like a person and less like an underwear model. “I have some information for you.”

“Oh?” Yuuri says.

“Not here, though.” Chris looks around. “Too many people. Follow me?” He flounces off before Yuuri can say anything back.

For a long moment, Yuuri considers just not following him. He doesn’t want to deal with anyone right now, he just wants to sleep and not have to feel anyone’s disappointed eyes on him. But his mother raised him not to be rude, so he follows Chris down the hall, down a flight of stairs and then stops.

They’re in an empty hallway with high windows and a single portrait of a witch with too much makeup and a pile of dark hair stacked on top of her head in elaborate twists. She glances at the two of them and then huffs, walking out of view.

“Well, I _never_.” Chris says, a hand on his chest.

“Chris.” Yuuri reminds wearily. “The information.”

“Ah, yes.” Chris smiles. “I’ve had my ear to ground about the first task for weeks now and it’s finally paid off! You see, the first task--”

Something in Yuuri snaps. It’s like a tightly-pulled string or spring wound to breaking. It snaps and words spill out without his consent.

“I don’t need help, Chris!” He shouts. “ _I’m_ the champion, not anyone else!”

“Yuui, I…” Chris says, but Yuuri is already storming away. Merlin, they said they believed in him. His whole house said they believed in him and now they’re trying to tell him what to do just like everyone else. He wipes his eyes and his cheeks angrily with the heel of his hand, trying to get rid of the tears that he cried without noticing.

He walks without a clear destination in mind, staring at the ground. He leaves the school and wanders out to the grounds. He doesn’t stop until he reaches his favorite stretch of rocky lakeshore, the one with the huge oak trees beside it that usually shield the castle from view.

But the leaves on the trees are patchy now and so he can see the spires of the castle clear as anything. He sits down on a large, flat rock and closes his eyes. He stays like that for a long time. He doesn’t want to think about the castle, about school, about the tournament and how he’s doing _everything_ wrong...

“You okay?”

Yuuri opens his eyes and glances back over his shoulder to see Phichit standing there. He’s holding two steaming mugs and is wearing a sympathetic smile.

“Phichit.” Yuuri wipes his eyes. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Chris mentioned you might be upset.” Says Phichit, picking his way over the rocks. “He thought you might need a friend.”

Yuuri winces. He was so rude to Chris. He didn’t do anything wrong, he just wanted to help and Yuuri just blew up at him and…

“Stop thinking too much.” Phichit says, stopping in front of him and putting a mug of what looks like hot chocolate in his hands. It’s warm.

“How did you know where to find me?” Yuuri says, still looking down at his mug. It’s easier to look at that than at Phichit.

“Oh, please.” He says and Yuuri glances up. He’s smiling. “I’ve been your friend for five years now, Yuuri. I know where you go when you’re upset.”

Yuuri doesn’t know what to say to that, so he sips his hot chocolate. It’s good.

“Can I sit?” Phichit asks. Yuuri nods. For a while, they just sit there together and drink their hot chocolate. It’s cold and a little bit windy, but Yuuri would rather be here than inside the castle. There are too many people inside.

“People keep offering me advice for the tournament.” Yuuri says after a long few minutes. “And help and stuff. And I…” It sounds stupid when he says it out loud so he trails off.

“You don’t like relying on people.” Phichit says easily, looking out over the lake and not at Yuuri. “I get that. But we’re here if you need us.” He looks sidelong at Yuuri for a moment and then away again. “You know that, right?”

Yuuri swallows and nods. “I know that.”

“Good.” Phichit hums and they lapse back into silence. It’s comfortable. Yuuri finishes his hot chocolate. After a while, Phichit starts charming rocks to skip themselves across the water.

“Thanks.” Yuuri says eventually, when the tension has gone out of his shoulders and his hands have uncurled from tense fists.

Phichit smiles, still pointing his wand at the water. “Don’t mention it.”

They stay there together, skipping stones with magic and not speaking, until the sun sinks and drowns in the lake.

**~~~~**

It’s two days until the first task and Yuuri hasn’t been sleeping. Like, at all.

He’s pretty sure that all of his friends know. Guang Hong has tried to coach him with deep breathing exercises. Leo keeps steering him to the squishiest and most comfortable chairs in the library. Phichit came up to him with a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion after dinner and slipped it into Yuuri’s pocket with a smile.

He’s sitting on his bed in the slytherin dormitory, all of his yearmates asleep, and clutching the vial. He should really take it.

But what if it’s really strong and he sleeps for the next two days, what if he sleeps straight through the task and…

He drops the vial on his bedside table, puts his palms over his eyes and sighs. He’s tired of thinking like this. He’s tired of worrying. He also just plain tired.

He flops back onto the mattress, keeping his hands over his closed eyes.

It’s not just the upcoming first task that has him up. It’s mostly the first task, yeah, but there’s so much more for him to worry about than just the task.

He makes a list in his head.

His fight with Chris; still not resolved.

His upcoming OWLs; teachers giving the fifth years double their homework last year in order to prepare them.

His wand; listening to his doubts and giving him mediocrity that he fears is all he’ll ever achieve.

Yuuko; the way that Nishigori had put his hand on hers in Hogsmede and she hadn’t moved away.

Viktor Nikiforov; his blue, blue eyes.

Yuuri drops his hands, opens his eyes.

He knows already that he won’t sleep tonight. Lying here when he could be doing things is a waste, so he gets to his feet and tries to be quite as he heads to the common room. It’s not that late, probably a little before midnight or so, so the fires are still lit and a handful of students are sitting around, working on homework or talking quietly.

Yuuri sees a familiar thatch of dyed blond hair at a table in front of the fire. Chris. He almost ducks out into the hallway or back into his dorm, but...no. He needs to fix this. He owes Chris an apology.

He walks over to stand by the table. Chris looks up at his approach.

“Yuuri.” He looks surprised. “You’re up late.”

“Um, you are too.” Yuuri points out, looking everywhere besides Chris’s face.

Chris laughs lightly. “Well, being a seventh-year does keep me busy with homework and the like.”

“Right.” Yuuri fidgets for a moment. “Can I…can I sit?” He gestures at the chair across from Chris.

“Of course.” Chris hums. “I always have time for you, darling.”

Yuuri lets out a choked little laugh before he takes the seat across from Chris. For a few moments, the only sounds are the crackling of the fireplace and the dull scratching of Chris’s quill against parchment.

“I wanted to apologize.” Chris says before Yuuri can get up the nerve to say anything.

“What?” He sits up, shocked. “Why?”

Chris sets down his quill and caps his ink before speaking again. “I shouldn’t have just assumed you wanted my help. You’re the champion, not me, and I should have respected that.”

“Chris…” Yuuri says, not really understanding. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I...I was so rude.” He duck his head and speaks to his knees. “I’m sorry. I should be sorry. Not you.”

“Yuuri.” A hand touches his cheek, forces him to look up.

“Y-yes?” Yuuri stammers. Even he’s not totally immune to Chris’s considerable charm.

He smiles. “You are allowed to have bad days, just like anyone. No one is expecting you to be perfect.”

Yuuri’s eyes feel hot and his throat feels hot. Merlin, this is so _stupid_. He has to close his eyes against the kindness in Chris’s eyes.

“Thanks.” He manages.

Chris drops his hand and leans away. “Of course. Anything for my precious Yuuri.”

Yuuri lets out a tiny laugh and opens his eyes. “Chris.” He says steadily, meeting Chris’s eyes.

“Yes?”

“I’d like to ask for your help, if you’re still willing to give it.” He says, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

Chris smiles. “Of course.”

“What did you find out about the first task?”

Okay, it might technically be cheating...but Yuuri is a slytherin. He’s going to use every advantage that he’s got. His competitors are older, better at magic than he is. If he doesn’t fight hard, then he’s going to lose badly. This right now, planning and strategizing, this is a part of the fight too.

“Well,” Chris leans back his chair and folds his hands together. The firelight glints off his glasses. He looks mildly like a supervillian. “I was observing some teachers the other day…”

“Spying on, you mean.” Yuuri corrects with a half-smile.

Chris shrugs. “If you want to be uncouth about it. But, anyway, I happened to overhear them saying that they were going out to work on construction the first task and I happened to be going in the same direction…”

“You followed them, gotcha.” Yuuri says and his smile is full-blown now.

“Psh, no respect for subtlety.” Chris huffs, but he’s smiling too. “Yes, fine, I _followed_ them and saw a bit of what they were working on.”

“What was it?”

“Tunnels.” Chris says. “Going underground. I don’t know much more...it could be a race, a fight, anything. But I do know that it’s going to be underground.”

Yuuri immediately starts to consider that. Underground...he should work on spells to create light then, lumos and its variants. Some spells for blasting away rock would probably help too, as would spells for helping with location, if these tunnels end up being large enough for him to get lost in...

“Does that help?” Chris prompts.

“Oh, sorry.” Yuuri says sheepishly and smiles at him. “Yes, thank you. It helps a lot.”

“I’ll be cheering for you on Saturday.” Chris says. “As will the rest of the house, of course.”

“Thank you, Chris.” Yuuri says sincerely.

“Don’t mention it.” Chris waves a hand. “A win for you is a win for our whole house, after all. I’m just thinking about my reputation, Yuuri my dear.” He punctuates the sentence with a wink.

“Oh, of course.” Says Yuuri, but he’s smiling.

“Watch out for Viktor, by the way.” Chris adds.

“W-what?” Yuuri feels his shoulders stiffen and hopes that Chris doesn’t notice.

“We’ve known each other for years now.” Chris says, waving a hand, “And he may not always act like it, but he’s a damn good wizard.” He looks at Yuuri and his face is set, serious. “I think you can win this, Yuuri. But if you’re not careful, then Viktor will surprise you.”

“He seems good at surprises.” Yuuri stammers awkwardly, trying not to think about the fact that Chris just said he thinks Yuuri could actually win.

The serious expression on Chris’s face clears and he looks like himself again, wearing a sly smirk. “He’s not the only one.” He reaches out and taps Yuuri on the nose. “I think you’re going to surprise quite a few people yourself, Yuuri Katsuki.”

**~~~~**

The day of the first task dawns clear, but cold.

Yuuri wakes before the rest of his house. The night before, Phichit practically force-fed him a sleeping potion at dinner. He went right up to his bed as soon as dinner was done and slept for a solid ten hours.

He feels a bit disoriented, but much better than before. It’s like his body finally caught up on the sleep he has been skipping out on.

He gets out of bed and dresses in his usual clothes, careful to remember his cloak and scarf. He sees the gloves that he brought in Hogsmede with Nishigori and Yuuko and stuffs them into his pocket on impulse.

If the task really is underground, then Yuuri and the other champions will probably change into athletic clothes before it actually starts. Still, Yuuri brings the gloves and a thigh-holster for his wand that Phichit got him for his birthday last year. He wants to be prepared.

He heads down to breakfast. He’s terribly, horribly, deathly nervous. When he got like this growing up, food always helped. Maybe things will seem less gut-wrenchingly terrifying after some food.

The Great Hall is almost empty. A few teachers are at the night table, yawning, and a half-dozen students are scattered at tables around the hall. No one likes to wake up early on Saturdays, it seems.

Yuuri understands. He usually sleeps til well past noon.

He helps himself to every breakfast food within reach and, once he’s inhaled most of a waffle and some fruit, he looks around the hall. He surprised when he sees, sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table and dressed in impeccable maroon robes, Viktor. There’s no one else with those eyes, that hair.

He looks tired, eyes fixed on the steaming mug in front of him. One of his legs is bouncing under the table. But he must sense eyes on him, because he looks up and over towards Yuuri.

He nods.

Yuuri nods back.

He raises his mug towards Yuuri. Yuuri, after a moment of hesitation, raises his own back. A smile, tiny and fleeting, flickers on Viktor’s features for a moment. Then, he goes back to his coffee. Yuuri goes back to his mountain of food.

Slowly, people arrive in the Great Hall.

A lot of them stop by Yuuri, patting him on the back and wishing him luck.

“You’ll do great!” A hufflepuff he doesn’t know says.

“Better not screw this up, slytherin.” A gryffindor huffs.

“You’ll do us proud, of course.” A slytherin says airly.

It makes Yuuri feel so, so much worse. So many people are depending on him, counting on him. He pushes away from the table with a mumbled excuse and borderline runs out of the hall. He walks as fast as he can without running and ducks inside of the first empty classroom that he finds.

Okay. Okay. He tries to keep breathing. Okay.

He takes out his wand and goes through the spells he’s been practicing in the last two days. He can do this. He has to.

He stays in the classroom, running through wand movements and not thinking, until it’s time to go to Minako’s office. He walks through hallways and doesn’t hear the well-wishes that people shout at him. His ears are filled with a dull roar. His footsteps sound too loud.

He reaches the gargoyle that guards the Headmistress’s office. He clears his throat and says, “ _Cecchetti_.” Minako sent him the password by owl last week.

The gargoyle shifts and there’s a staircase. He walks up and through the door at the top.

The Beaubaxton group, Sara and her Headmistress, are already there.

“Hi, Yuuri.” Sara waves at him.

“Hi Sara.” He smiles shakily back. He hasn’t really had a chance to talk to her since the weighing of the wands.

“Are you okay?” She blinks at him. “You look...pale.”

He keeps holding his smile. “I’m fine.” He says automatically. “Just fine.”

“I’m a little nervous.” She says and flashes him a smile that is all very white teeth.

“Just a little?” Yuuri says and his voice sounds choked, even to his own ears.

“Just a bit.” She says and they both laugh, the sound edging on hysterical.

“Yuuri?” It’s Minako, dressed in dark robes and frowning a bit. “Are you ready?”

Yuuri kind of wants to say no just to see what she’d do, but he nods. “As I can be.”

She pats him on the shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

Yuuri just takes a deep breath, glancing over as the door opens and Yakov and Viktor step through.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Yakov grunts. “Are we ready to go, then?”

“Yes.” Lilia says with a sharp nod. “But first, we must have them change.”

“Change?” Viktor blinks. “Into what?”

“Here we are.” Minako drops a bundle of red and black cloth into Viktor’s arms. She does the same with Sara, through her clothes are white and blue, and then with Yuuri, whose clothes are green and grey. “These will serve you better than robes for the task today.”

They all take turns in the bathroom attached to Minako’s office, putting on the tight, athletic clothing that she’s given them. Yuuri looks at himself in the mirror once he’s dressed, taking in the way his face is pale and the way that his gloves and thigh-holster stand out against the fabric.

Okay. He’s fine. He’s going to be fine.

Together, the heads of school lead the three of them through a castle that is mostly empty. The students are already at the task, getting ready to watch.

Yuuri falls into step beside Viktor, determined to make things right between them before the task. They haven’t spoken since their disastrous dueling club experience, haven't even looked at each other except for this morning.

“Sorry about what I said in dueling club.” Yuuri says, looking at Viktor’s shoulder instead of his face. It’s a very nice shoulder.

Viktor laughs and Yuuri looks up, surprised. “Do you take it back, then? Are you not going to win?”

“I…” Viktor eyes are dancing with some emotion Yuuri doesn’t recognizes. He swallows. “No. I don’t take it back.”

Viktor grins. “Then don’t apologize.”

Yuuri looks away, confused, but not unhappy.

The rest of the walk in silent. Sara is practicing wand motions. Viktor is humming softly. Yuuri is trying not to keel over and die of nerves.

They head out of the front door of the castle and onto the lawn. At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a massive barrier has been put up, probably to keep them from seeing what the task is. There’s a tent just in front of it and that’s where they go, all following the head of school inside.

The tent is pretty bare aside from a few chairs to sit on to wait and a few cots onto the far wall, probably in case of injury. Yuuri very determinedly doesn’t think about the potential of getting hurt and the fact that he forgot to send his family a letter last night like he meant to.

“Okay.” Minako is taking out a small velvet bag. “You’re to draw lots to see the order you’ll go in. Once that happens, the champion going first will follow me outside. I’ll explain the rules and then the task will begin. The other two will wait here. Understood?”

All three of them nod.

“Yuuri?” She holds out the bag towards Yuuri.

Not first, not first, not first…

He reaches in and pulls out a number. He looks down and a huge number one looks back at him.

“Merlin,” He mumbles and wraps his fingers around it. Maybe he could lie about it, maybe he could say he pulled four or seven hundred or…

“Well, I got three and Viktor got two.” Sara says. “So you’re first, right Yuuri?”

Yuuri nods with all of the enthusiasm of a man attending his own execution.

“Good luck!” She says, reaching out a giving him a quick hug. He pats her shoulder, feeling awkward and hoping that Michele never finds out about this. If he does, Yuuri probably won't live long enough to even try to do the first task.

“Good luck.” Viktor echoes once Sara steps back, smiling. His eyes gleam. “I look forward to seeing what you can do, Yuuri Katsuki.”

Yuuri, summoning up a bit of confidence from some place he didn’t even know existed, smirks at him. “I look forward to showing you.”

Viktor’s eyes go wide for a second, his lips parting in surprise, and then he grins. “This is going to be fun, I think.”

“Yuuri?” Minako is standing right by the entrance. Yuuri turns to face her. “It’s time.”

Yuuri takes one last look at Sara and Viktor before following her out into the sunlight.

Once he adjusts to the bright day outside, Yuuri can see a large cave standing a few yards away from him, sloping down into the earth. Chris was right. It is underground.

All around the mouth of the cave are stands, with screens on the front. Yuuri can’t see what’s on them, but he’s sure that they’re a way for the students to watch what happens in the caves. Just sitting by the entrance during the task would be boring.

There’s an announcer's box raised in the middle of the stands and sitting in it are Emil Nekola, a fifth-year from ravenclaw, and Michele Crispino, Sara’s brother from Beauxbatons.

“Welcome!” Emil’s voice, magically loud, echoes. “To the first task!”

The students in the stands cheer enthusiastically and Yuuri tries to keep breathing.

“Okay, settle down.” Michele says. “We don’t have all day.”

“Indeed we don’t, because this is a timed event!” Emil says. “Let me lay out the rules, folks! Right here, we have the entrance to a labyrinth of tunnels and caves!”

“Along with obstacles to get in their way.” Says Michele. “Of course.”

“Of course!” Emil agrees.

_Keep breathing, keep breathing._

“There’s treasure in these tunnels.” Emil says. “Each champion needs to find a piece and manage to get out alive! The champion that does it the fastest and with the most skill, as judged by our headmaster and headmistresses, gets the most points!”

Again, the audience screams their approval.

“You understand the rules, Yuuri?” Minako asks, touching his arm.

“Go in, get the treasure, get out.” Yuuri says mechanically, staring at the yawning mouth of the cave. It’s dark. He can’t see more than ten feet inside of it. “I got it.” He repeats, more to himself than to Minako.

“Okay, then.” She looks doubtful, but she turns and nods to Emil and Michele.

“Our first champion up is Hogwart’s own Yuuri Katsuki!” Emil’s voice cries out as Yuuri walks closer to the mouth of the cave. “Katsuki is the youngest champion at fifteen!”

The audience is still yelling and screaming and generally making a lot of noise. Yuuri can barely hear it.

Everything is hazy and unfocused and, Merlin, he could die here. He he could die here and it wouldn’t matter that he was the Hogwarts Champion because he would be dead. And, oh no, his mom and his dad and his sister would be so upset, wouldn’t they? Why did he do this, why did he think he could do this...

“Yuuri!” A voice breaks the haze and he blinks, looking around. It takes him a minute, but he spots the source of the noise.

In the front of the stands, Phichit is standing at the front of a massive group of cheering students, Leo, Guang Hong, Yuuko, Nishigori and Chris just behind him. They’re wearing green and silver on over their usual house colors and they’re all screaming his name and smiling at him.

“You can do it!” Phichit shouts.

Yuuri manages a smile back.

Okay.

He’s going to do this.

He lifts his wand and the cheering section screams their approval as he walks into the mouth of the cave.

The noise of the audience is lost soon after a few minutes. The last shreds of daylight go soon after. Yuuri lifts his wand and murmurs, “Lumos.” The tip of his wand flares to life, illuminating the tunnel. It’s not huge, probably about five feet wide and six feet tall, but Yuuri is small enough that the walls don’t feel like they’re closing on him.

For a few minutes, he walks. The tunnel slopes gradually downwards, but there aren’t any offshoots. It’s just one, long tunnel.

Yuuri kind of thought that this whole task would be a bit more exciting.

Right after that thought pops into his head, a rumble sounds from somewhere overhead. He doesn’t think, just acts.

“ _Protego_!” He lifts his wand above his head and slashes it at a diagonal, casting a shield charm shaped like an umbrella. It’s just in time to protect him from being smashed beneath a sudden rockfall. The first few stones bounce off harmlessly, but a boulder almost as big as Yuuri is falls directly in the center and it almost buckles. Yuuri focuses, reinforcing. He’s been casting shield charms for years now. He can’t do much, but he can do this.

The charm holds fast until the rockfall finally stops. When Yuuri cautiously lowers it and lights his wand again, there’s a circle of clear ground of rocks with Yuuri at the center.

He stands there for a moment before cautiously starting to walk again. He keeps his wand up, ready to cast more shield charms if he needs to. How is he going to know where the treasure even is?

He knows location spells and he knows summoning spells, but those only work if he knows where he’s going or what he’s summoning. He bites his lip and keeps walking. Maybe he could modify an _accio_? _Accio_ treasure? No, that’s way too simple. They would have thought of that of--

His train of thought is abruptly halted when, without warning, the dirt underneath his feet gives way. For a moment he tries to step back to where he was before, but it’s too late. The last of the ground gives out under his feet and he’s in freefall.

“ _Mollire_!” Yuuri shouts, pointing his wand into the dark below him and then without hesitating he flips the wand towards his chest and shouts, “ _Morabora_!” trying to slow himself down.

It works. His fall slows and he more or less drifts down through the dark until he hits the soft, forgiving surface that his cushioning charm had hit. He bounces on it a couple of times and lets out a panicked laugh. He had to extinguish his wand to cast the cushioning and slow charms, so he just sits there in the dark for a moment and laughs like an idiot, finally stopping when his eyes start to feel hot and watery.

He kind of wants to curl up on the soft, cushiony ground and cry for a good while, but he’s not dead yet and he’s got a task to finish. He gets to his feet, legs wobbly as a baby deer’s, and relights his wand.

The tunnel he’s in now is darker than the last one, stone instead of dirt. It’s narrower too, the walls close enough that he can hardly walk without brushing up against them. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. The air tastes moldy and wet.

“Okay.” He tightens his grip on his wand. “Okay.”

These tunnels are dangerous and, from what Yuuri has seen so far, they go deep. Just wandering around and hoping to find the treasure that they were talking about isn’t an option. He needs to figure out a surefire way to locate them and fast. Time matters.

“Think.” He says to himself, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He wants to pace, wants to move, but he doesn’t trust the floor beneath his feet to stay there.

The tunnels don’t seem to connect, not in forks or anything. He’ll have to get to new ones by blasting through walls, it seems. But how is he supposed to know which way to go…

He taps his wand against his thigh, thinking, and the watery light of the _lumos_ casts weird, wavery shadows.

A patronus could search for him. It’s a protection spell, but an adaptable one. It can be used to carry messages. Perhaps he could have it search for a treasure. But he’s never been able to cast one reliably. His happy memories are always tinged by doubt and uncertainty. And here, surrounded by the dark and crushed under expectations, happy memories seem very far away.

“What now?” He hisses, harsh and sharp. “What am I supposed to do now?”

This task is supposed to be about thinking on his feet, about figuring out a difficult situation, but Yuuri is just lost. He bites his lip hard and fights the urge to kick the wall. He’s supposed to be clever, he’s a slytherin.

Wait.

He’s a slytherin.

He thinks of the way he could never find their dorm as a first year, the exasperated older student who showed him a charm that would lead him to where he needed to go. He raises his wand with a shaking hand, closes his eyes and thinks, _please, please work_.

“ _Viam invenire_.” He murmurs. _Find the way._

When he opens his eyes, the hall is dark. But when he looks down there’s a thin line of gold on the ground in front of him spooling away into the dark. He takes a deep breath and casts _lumos_ again. The line stays.

Yuuri follows it.

It takes him through the cave and then curves away a few minutes later through a sturdy-looking stone wall. Yuuri adjust his grip on his wand and shouts, “ _Bombarda_!” Technically, it’s an unlocking charm, but it’s one that can take out entire walls when used right.

The wall crumbles away and he follows his spell into the joining tunnel. And on he goes.

He follows his line down through the dark, avoiding rockfalls and, once or twice, blasting through the walls or the floor to get where he needs to go. He crosses an underground lake, using _glacius tria_ to freeze the surface solid. He climbs a craggy wall, hands aching. He charms away a flock of bats with sharp, shiny teeth.

He has to have been down here for an hour, maybe longer. He wonders if the students are getting bored, watching him on a wavery magical screen.

He’s close to panic, sure he has to be taking too long, when the tunnel he’s in opens into a large chamber. At first, he thinks it’s empty. But then the stack of rubble against one wall moves.

It’s a stone monster made completely out of rocks. It lurches towards Yuuri. It looks angry. Or, if it had a face it would look angry. Probably. Okay, the feelings of the rock monster probably aren’t important right now. Yuuri levels his wand at the thing and shouts, “ _Stupefy_!” His _lumos_ is extinguished by the stunning spell and he loses sight of the monster after a flash of red light.

A rush a cold air is the only warning he gets before a huge fist as almost strikes him. He ducks just in time, wand clutched tight in his hand.

He can’t fight this thing in the dark. He lifts his wand high and thinks of a charm that he’s never actually been able to use. He’s read about it, tried it without success once or twice in the past few days. But he needs this, he needs to be able to see.

He believes in his magic and his wand.

“ _Lumos ultima_!” He shouts, wand arm extended and pointed straight up, and he hopes. He can do this, he can. The tip of his wand flickers weakly and then a wave of light pulses from it, soaking into the walls, the floor, everything. The stone cavern is lit up, bright as day. Yuuri’s knees buckle and he nearly falls, but he catches himself on the wall. That spell took more out of him than he expected.

But he can’t think about that now. The rock monster across the room turns to face Yuuri and thanks to the light he can see it clearly. It doesn’t help his fears at all. In fact, they’re probably a lot worse now. The creature is at least ten feet tall with massive stone fists that look perfect for crushing Yuuri into a pancake.

But just behind it, Yuuri can see something gleam. He swallows and tightens his grip on his wand. The treasure.

Well, no use wasting time. Yuuri points his sharply at the creature and yells, “ _Bombarda_!”

The good news is that the spell hits the rock monster. The bad news is that it also hits the wall. And the ceiling. And probably the floor. A massive cloud of dust rises and a massive fall of rocks come down. Yuuri casts the same umbrella-shaped shield charm and waits for the chamber to settle. The monster doesn’t.

Yuuri just manages to duck under the monster’s swinging fist, barely able to see it through the falling rocks and dust. When it gets close, Yuuri notices that there’s a massive hunk missing out of the monster. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have noticed. It swings at Yuuri again and he casts another shield that shudders ominously against the punch.

Yuuri is breathing hard, fear pumping through him like blood. He can do this, he has to do this. Merlin, he’s the worst at curses, but he needs more firepower if he wants to beat this thing. “ _Confringo_!” He flings a blasting curse at it, honestly surprised when it works. There’s another massive explosion, this one completely centered on the monster. The force of it seems to shake the world, but the cavern holds.

When the dust clears, the monster looks almost skeletal. There’s only a few rocks left holding together and it’s walk towards him is slow and lurching. He levels his wand, ready for one last blasting curse, but the rocks on the ground that he blasted off of it start to move.

Shit, it’s regenerating. Every bit of stone he managed to blast away is writhing back up to stick on where it was blown from.

Yuuri wants to scream.

Charms won’t beat this thing and neither will his, admittedly shaky, curses. If he wants it to stop regenerating, he’ll need to transfigure it. It’s the only way.

But he has no idea how to even go about doing that.

Is it living? Spells for livings are different. No, it’s not living, it’s a rock...animated through some spell, but all the same it’s still a rock. Maybe he could just try...

“ _Reparifarge_?” He waves his wand, but says it like a question and, honestly, he’s not surprised when nothing happened. The monster rumbles ominously and he barely avoids another punch.

“That’s just not fair!” Yuuri snarls. He can’t do this, he can’t stop it from regenerating, he can’t just keep hitting it with spells. But he has to beat it to get the treasure and…

Wait. No he doesn’t. He doesn’t need to beat it at all.

He flips his wand to face himself. “ _Dissimulo_ ,” He says and he shifts to become the color of the rock behind him. Before the monster can react, he rushes past it and looks down at the prize waiting for him.

There are three gilded objects, each golden and about the size of his closed his. One is a sphere, one is a cube and one is a pyramid. He snatches the cube without thinking about it and turns to run back past the monster.

The monster seems to notice and a fist flies towards him. He slashes his wand, casting a nonverbal _protego_. It’s weaker than a spoken one would be and Yuuri knows a moment before it breaks that it won’t hold. The monster’s fist comes at him, slowed a bit by the shield, and it glances off of his upper arm

Even a slowed, weak hit knocks him to the floor and send the cube flying out of his hand. Yuuri bites back a scream and tries not to focus on his arm. He doesn’t think that it’s broken, but there’s probably going to be a hell of a bruise.

He blinks back tears of pain and looks around. The monster is above him and--Merlin! He rolls out of the way, narrowly avoiding being slammed by a fist again. He needs to get out of here.

The cube glints from just few feet away.

Yuuri takes a deep breath and makes sure he knows where the cube is. Okay. He has a plan. It’s a really shitty plan that might end with him getting squashed flat, but at least he has a plan.

He points his wand at the ceiling. “ _Nox ultimata_!” The light seems to furl back into his wand and darkness envelopes them again. He scrambles to his feet and runs to where the cube was. He scrabbles on the floor for a moment and then his fingers hit a solid edge. He grasps the cube, ignoring the way that moving his arm makes the part the rock monster hit scream in pain.

Okay, he has the treasure. Now to get out. “ _Bombarda maxima_!” He shouts, wand pointed back over his shoulder, and he runs, not even stopping to light his wand. He’s never been the fastest or most athletic, but he feels like there are wings on his heels now. He sprints flat-out for more than a minute and the heavy crashing of rumbling rocks behind him doesn’t stop.

“ _Lumos_!” He pants after he scrapes his arm against the rock.

He realizes that he has no idea where he is.

He groans and pulls out his wand, wearily casting his find the way spell again. It plunges him into darkness and, once a gold line has spread out in front of him, he lights his wand again. Merlin, he’s tired.

But he has to get up to the surface again. He’s not done yet.

Thankfully, the path up is shorter and more forgiving. Other than a few rockfalls and a few walls to blast through, the way back is simple. When he sees daylight again, he thinks he might be hallucinating. But, no.

He can already hear the cheers.

He clambers out of the tunnel, bleeding from like three different cuts and clutching his limp arm. The day is uncomfortably bright after the endless darkness of the tunnels. All he wants is to sleep for like a hundred years, but he manages to smile towards the stands where his friends are waiting.

“ _Nox_.” He mumbles, finally extinguished his light and letting his wand fall limply to his side.

“Champion Yuuri Katsuki has managed to retrieve a treasure from inside of the cave!” Emil’s voice babbles excitedly. “The Hogwarts Champion! Isn’t he awesome, Mickey?”

“My sister will crush him!” Michele snaps back.

The stands are still shouting their approval, chanting his name, his house, his school, telling him that he did well.

Yuuri’s just glad he didn’t embarrass himself.

“Okay, so Katsuki has finished and sucessfully gotten his treasure!” Emil is still talking. “Will Nikiforov be able to do the same?”

The Durmstrang contingent starts shouting for their own champion and Yuuri looks over to see Viktor striding towards him, ready for his turn. He looks Yuuri up and down and then shakes his head with a smile, like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.

“You’re something special, aren’t you?” Viktor says.

“I…” Yuuri is dirty and bleeding and still clutching the thing he found in the cave. “I don’t know about that.”

Viktor smiles. “I do.” He takes a few steps towards the mouth of the cave and glances back at Yuuri. “Just so you know, though.” He pulls out his wand and lights it up. “I won’t make this easy for you.”

Yuuri hurts all over and he’s more tired than he’s ever been in his life, but he grins. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is longer than i meant for it to be :| 
> 
> it also has a lot more made-up wandlore than is really necessary (btw i got a lot of the stuff about wand woods off of pottermore and the rest i just made up...so yeah) 
> 
> anyway...thats the first task done with (i hope you enjoyed it, it was a pain to write :’{ ) 
> 
> i know we’ll have the yule ball in the next chapter, as well as some yurio (finally!)...not sure if we’ll get to the second task, but either way ill see you there
> 
> still [here](http://theroadgoesawayfromhere.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!


	3. a dance

_Hasetsu is unbearably hot in the summer._

_At five, Yuuri Katsuki has a nearly boundless supply of energy. But even he is wilting in the intense heat. He slumps under a tree, eyes narrowed behind his overly-large glasses, and he stares up at the cloudless blue sky._

_“I wish it would snow.” He says aimless, yanking up a few strands of grass. He lets his head fall back against the tree and then closes his eyes, imagining the cold, crunchy feeling of snow in his hands and under his boots and…_

_“Ah!” He sits up with a gasp, eyes flying opening, as something wet and cold lands on his nose. He rubs whatever it is off and his hand comes away cold. What…_

_He cries out and jumps to his feet as something wet and cold hits him again, this time on the cheek. He looks up and sees a steady fall of pure white snowflakes, glittering impossibly against sunshine peeking through the leaves._

_“Mom!” He runs inside in a panic. “Mom, it’s snowing!”_

_“Yuuri.” She puts a hand on her hip. “You mother is busy! I don’t have time for jokes with the inn to run!”_

_“No!” He insists, pulling on her arm. “Come and see, please! There’s snow, there really is!”_

_She sighs and shakes her head. “Okay dear, fine…” She lets him pull her by the arm out into the garden where, miraculously, the snow is still falling gently between the dappled sunlight and green leaves._

_“Yuuri!” She beams at him. “I can’t believe it...already!”_

_“Mom?” He pulls on her arm again. “Mom, what is it?”_

_“It’s magic, Yuuri.” His mother says, a smile on her lips, and she turns and clasps his chubby hands in hers. “You have magic.”_

_“Magic?” He whispers, eyes wide._

_“Just like me.” She says and pulls something, a short wooden stick that Yuuri has seen her carry before, out of her apron. She waves it at the still-falling snow and murmurs something Yuuri doesn’t hear. The snow stops falling._

_He stares at her. “How did you do that?” He demands. “You made it stop!”_

_“I told you.” She says with a laugh. “It’s magic! I have it...and so do you!”_

_She pulls him forward into a hug. The bright, sparkling snow glistenings on the ground around them, not melting despite the bright sunshine._

**~~~~**

“Katsuki? Katsuki are you listening?”

“Sorry.” Yuuri blinks out of his memories and looks up at the mediwitch standing in front of him. He shakes his head, trying to focus. “What was that?”

He’s resting on a cot, finally done with the first task. Even inside the tent away from the wind, the air is bitterly cold. This day is nothing that that day in Hasetsu almost a decade before. But there’s something about it that feels the same, the wonder, the complete impossibility of the thing. He’s a wizard. He completed the first task.

It’s the same level of absurd.

“Extend your arm.” The mediwitch says and so he does.

It only takes her a few minutes to heal up his cuts and deal with the massive bruise purpling his upper arm, but there’s nothing they can give him for the horrible, dragging sensation in his entire body. He’s never been so exhausted. He’s sitting on a cot, struggling to stay upright, let alone keep his eyes open.

He wanted to go and watch Viktor and Sara on the wavery magical screens, but he’s just so, so _tired_ …

“It’s magical exhaustion.” A voice makes him look back over the mouth of the tent. Minako is standing there, dressed in dark robes. She gives him a two-fingered wave. “Hey.”

“Headmistress…” Yuuri swallows. His mouth still tastes like dirt. “Magical exhaustion?”

The mediwitch nods at the headmistress before walking away to give them some privacy.

“Yeah.” Minako waits until the woman passes before she walks over and sits down on the empty cot opposite his. “You pushed yourself past your limits, kid. I was worried you were going to pass out after that last bombarda, I’ll be honest.”

“Oh.” He blinks once or twice, struggling to even think he’s so tired. “Sorry.”

“I’m not scolding you, Yuuri.” She says and reaches over at pat his knee. “It was a job well done. But in the future make sure you keep your limits in mind. We all have limits, even talented young wizards like yourself.”

“I’m not…” He starts, but she cuts him off.

“We’re not giving our scores until all three of you are done. Nikiforov will still be in the caves for a while yet and then Crispino has to go, so you have time to get some sleep and recover.” She smiles wryly. “There’s no potion that’s as good for magical exhaustion as plain old sleep.”

“But I wanted to watch…” He protests, but he can already feel exhaustion making his limbs heavy.

“You can once you get some sleep.” She says. “Come up to my office later this week and I’ll let you watch them both on replay. Sound good?”

He nods, already drooping down towards the mattress. “Thanks, Headmistress.”

“Don’t mention it.” She says, sweeping towards the mouth of the tent. “And Yuuri?” She looks back before heading back out into the sun and smiles. “I’m proud of you.”

**~~~~**

Yuuri wakes up to a hand on his shoulder and voice insistently repeating his name.

“Yuuri? C’mon, Yuuri you have to wake up.”

Yuuri mumbles vaguely and tries to shove the hand away. He’s tired. He wants to sleep.

“ _Yuuri_!” The voice sounds increasingly exasperated.

“Mmmmmmmm.” Yuuri burrows deeper into the scratchy, uncomfortable mattress. This is his home now. He is one with the mattress. He will die here.

“This is getting ridiculous.” A different voice huffs, this one tinged with an accent he doesn’t know. “I’ll wake him.”

Something cold slaps his cheeks and he sits up a yelp.

“There we are.”

He opens his eyes to see the Beauxbatons Headmistress pointing her wand at his face. “W-wh-what?” He stammers and scrambles to his feet, almost falling.

Minako is standing a few feet away, her lips quirked in amusement. Behind her are Viktor and Sara, both looking a little dusty and woebegone. They’re very clearly trying not to laugh.

Yuuri feels himself blush scarlet and he tries to adjust his rumpled clothes and his wild hair. He managed to fall asleep with his glasses on and now they’re a little crooked, his nose hurting from where the bridge dug in.

“Ugh.” He pushes his glasses up and rubs his eyes. “Sorry.”

“Not a morning person, I take it?” Viktor say with a smirk.

“Erm, no.” Yuuri admits, dropping the glasses and rubbing his cheeks. “Sorry. Again. I’m sorry.”

“No matter.” Lilia is stowing her wand back in an elegant sleeve. “Come. We have kept people waiting for long enough.”

“She’s scary.” Yuuri mumbles to Sara as they follow the heads of school towards the mouth of the tent.

“Yeah, I know.” Sara whispers back. Up close, she looks rough. Yuuri can see yellowish bruises, not fully healed, patterned around her neck and a barely-scar on the edge of her jaw that wasn’t there before.

“You okay?” He asks.

Her jaw tightens, but she smiles. “Fine.” She says. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” He says.

“You okay?” She asks.

He’s still tired, but it feel less like the horrible, sucking sensation of magical exhaustion and more like ordinary tiredness. He feels okay. Better than he thought he would. “I’m fine too.”

“Good.”

“Okay!” Minako has stopped by tent opening. “Do you all still have what you retrieved from the caves?”

Sara holds up a golden pyramid. Viktor, a golden sphere. Yuuri panics for a minute then feels the awkward weight in his left pocket. He reaches in and pulls out the cube the retrieved deep in the cave.

“Excellent.” Minako says. “Hold on to them. You’ll need them for the next task. But for now,” She holds the tent open. “We should get you scored. Get in order.”

The three champions stand in a line, Yuuri first, Viktor second and then Sara last. Yuuri takes a deep breath as Minako pushes the flap of the tent back and the sunlight streams in. The cheers that greet them are so loud that Yuuri flinches back.

“Steady.” Viktor’s hand presses on the center of his back for just a moment, a quiet reassurance. Yuuri doesn’t say anything back, but he relaxes his shoulders just a bit.

He fought a rock monster. He can deal with a cheering crowd.

The shouts get louder as they walk in front of the stands, the crowd waving their arms in the arm and chanting their names over and over.

Probably. Yuuri can _probably_ deal with the cheering crowd.

“Here they are, people!” Emil says from his spot in the commentator’s box. “Your champions!”

There’s one last surge of noise from the stands. Yuuri spots his cheering section again, clad in green and silver, and he waves. Phichit yells his name. Leo and Guang Hong wave Slytherin flags. Chris wolf-whistles because of course he does.

“Okay, okay.” Michele says. “It’s time to score them. Headmistress?”

“Thank you.” Minako presses her wand to her throat, magically amplifying her voice, and turns towards the stands. “Now, to explain how we are scoring our three champions. This event was timed and we will first assign points based on that time.”

Yuuri can’t hear the clamor of the crowd over the pounding of his heart in his ears. He forgot it was timed. Merlin, he’s definitely in last for that part. It took him so long to find the treasure. He didn’t even come up with the location spell until at least twenty minutes into the task and…

“In first, with a time of forty minutes and twelve seconds is the champion for the Durmstrang Institute, Viktor Nikiforov!” Minako says, voice booming over the stands. “He gets a score of thirty points!”

The red-robed part of the stands all break into cheers. Beside Yuuri, Viktor grins. Yuuri swallows hard and looks at the ground.

“In second, with a time of one hour, eight minutes and four seconds is the champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Yuuri Katsuki! He gets a score of twenty points!”

Yuuri looks up. Second? He got…second?

“Yuuri!” The Hogwarts students are all chanting his name. “Yuuri! Yuuri!”

That’s…that’s better than he expected. A lot better. Viktor beat him by twenty minutes, but Yuuri…he’s not last. He didn’t completely fail.

Thank Merlin.

“And in third, with a time of one hour, fifteen minutes and nineteen seconds, if the champion for the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Sara Crispino! She gets a score of ten points!”

Yuuri glances over at Sara while the crowd cheers. One of her hands is balled into a fist and she’s biting her lip. She looks frustrated. Yuuri looks back at the crowd. He understands feeling like that all too well.

“Now, that isn’t everything!” Minako continues. “Our champions get one score based on time. The other, however, will be based on their performance! You all saw their journey through the labyrinth…” She waves the hand not holding her wand towards the now-blank screens in front of the stands. “And now we three heads of school will score them based on that performance!”

Yuuri’s heart picks up again. Rate them on their performances? His was so messy and that charm he used shouldn’t even have worked and he didn’t actually fight the rock monster and…

The blank screens are flickering back to life, displaying different parts of their journey down into the tunnels. Yuuri sees himself blasting through a wall and casting a _lumos ultimata_. He’s still reeling from the fact that it worked, honestly.

On another screen, he can see bits of the other champions’ performances. Viktor’s spellwork is as slick and flashy as it was during their duel. At one point, it shows him freezing the ground and sliding along it like an ice rink to go faster. It’s clever, incredibly dangerous of course, but still clever.

On yet another screen is Sara. Her strategy for getting through the tunnels seems to involve a lot of blowing stuff up. Most of what is displayed on screen is either fire or explosions. There’s a few moments, though, of her facing the rock monster. She tries to blast it, misses and is then grabbed by the throat and yanked off her feet. She goes flying and hits her face on the ground, ending up with blood coating her jaw. Yuuri winces. That explains the bruises around her neck and the scar on her jaw.

The screens eventually flicker to a stop and a voice rises over the rumble of the audience.

“Okay!” Emil has taken back over and is leaning into his mic. “First up is Nikiforov. Let’s see what our own Headmistress Minako gives him…”

Yuuri watches as Minako points her wand up and a thin silver ribbon streaks out. It twists in on itself and forms into a nine.

“And now up is Nikiforov’s own headmaster…”

Yakov points up his own wand and a ribbon shapes itself into a number seven.

“Oh, not as impressed as Headmistress Minako, it seems.” Michele says.

Yuuri is close enough to hear Yakov mutter something that sounds a lot like “ _showboating idiot_.” Beside him, Viktor looks both amused and a little put-out.

“And now Headmistress Baranovskaya.” Michele says.

Lilia points her wand up and shoots out a delicate-looking number nine.

“A nice score for Viktor Nikiforov of Durmstrang!” Emil shouts. “Combining that with his score from the timed portion puts Nikiforov with a total score of fifty-five points. Let’s give him a hand!”

The stands respond, with particular enthusiasm from the Durmstrang contingent. Yuuri can’t fault their enthusiasm. Their champion really is amazing. Yuuri watches out of the corner of his eye as Viktor flips his hair out of his eyes and winks.

“Now up is Katsuki.” Says Michele. “For Hogwarts.”

Yuuri takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his hands, the ground, the sound of Phichit and the others cheering from the stands. It’s fine. He’s _fine_.

“Headmistress Minako gives him…eight points!” Yuuri looks up in surprise to see Minako holding her wand aloft, a silvery number eight hanging there. It’s better than he expected, a lot better.

“And from Headmaster Feltsman…” Emil is saying as Yakov points his wand up. “Eight points!”

“What?” Yuuri says aloud. The sentiment seems to be echoed by the crowd, all of them chattering in confusion. Did…did the Durmstrang Headmaster really score him above Viktor?

He wants to figure out why, if there was some sort of mistake, but Emil is already moving on. “And from Headmistress Baranovskaya…”

Lilia raises her wand and forms a seven.

“Okay!” Emil says. “And that’s the score for Yuuri Katsuki from Hogwarts…forty three points! Not bad for our youngest champion!”

The crowd cheers, but Yuuri isn’t listening. Twelve points…he’s twelve points behind Viktor. He closes his hands into fists. Okay. Twelve points. He needs to close that gap.

“And now is the best champion! The champion who will surely win, despite the fact that this tournament is too dangerous of her. My talented and beautiful sister, Sara Crisipino!” Michele is babbling into the mic. Yuuri looks sidelong at Sara. She looks uncomfortable. Yuuri would say that’s fair. He’s pretty sure the whole arena is uncomfortable by now.

“Er, Headmistress Minako gives her…” Emil seems to have wrestled away control of the microphone. “Seven points!”

“What!” Michele doesn’t need a mic. They all hear his outraged exclamation anyway.

“Yeah, and Headmaster Feltsman gives her...” Emil says, still keeping is tenuous control of the mic. “Five points.”

“This is an outrage!” Michele snatches the mic back. “Surely anyone could see how powerful her spellcasting was! She deserves a better score, this is unjust and…”

“Mister Crispino!” Minako shouts, her voice exasperated. “Sit down and be objective or else I will take that mic away from you.”

“I am being objective, Headmistress!” Michele protests. “You’re just wrong! And if this goes on…”

Minako waves her wand. The mic cuts out. Yuuri looks over at Sara. She looks terribly embarrassed, a flush turning her whole face patchy red. Yuuri wants to make her feel less horrible, but he doesn’t know how. For now, he just gives her a sympathetic smile. 

“If you would, Headmistress.” She says to Lilia, who obligingly points her wand in the air. A silver six hangs there for a moment.

“Um…okay.” Emil says cautiously, once again holding the mic. Beside him, Michele is silent but obviously fuming. “That’s a total of twenty eight points for Sara Crispino! Well done to all three champions in the first task!" 

And that’s it. They’re done.

Yuuri clutches his wand tightly. He didn’t win today, but he has two more chances. He can do this. He has to do this.

“Yes, well done! But this tournament isn’t over yet!” Minako has her wand against her throat again. “As you see, each champion retrieved a treasure from inside the caves.” Yuuri reaches down to touch the lump in his left pocket. “Each of these treasures contains a clue about the second task. Without figuring out how to unlock the treasure and decipher the clue, they won’t be able to succeed!”

She turns to them with a smile. “Champions…good luck!”

The crowd is still cheering and Sara is saying something to Yuuri, maybe offering congratulations, but Yuuri is still a million miles away.

Viktor is walking away, towards the mass of maroon-robed students cheering in the stands. He’s tall and his shoulders are strong and he’s holding his long wand carelessly in one hand. He’s devastating in a myriad of different ways.

But the only difference between then is twelve points. Viktor is only ahead of Yuuri by twelve points.

Yuuri’s going to surpass him.

Yuuri’s going to win.

**~~~~**

The relief from finishing the first task successfully manages to keep Yuuri in a good mood for three whole days. People keep stopping him to offer congratulations and, though he’s not a huge fan of attention, it is a nice change from lots of unwanted advice. Celestino stops him in the hall to compliment his charmwork and in dueling club, Professor Arch claps him on the shoulder and tells him he did the school proud.

It’s surreal. He feels like he’s floating, buoyed along by his relief at finishing the first task.

But all too soon, reality comes along to sink him.

Yuuri is a fifth year and that means that at the end of the year he will have his OWLs. And that apparently means that every one of his teachers has decided to give him and the rest of the fifth years about twice as much homework as they’ve ever had before.

It leads to Yuuri, Phichit and Leo all being holed up in the library after dinner, massive stacks of books teetering all over the table. Guang Hong, who is a year younger and not yet subject to the ridiculous workload of fifth year, left a while ago. He hung out for an hour, finished all of his homework and then wandered off, leaving the three of them with barely a dent in the work they had to finish.

Yuuri stares blearily down at his potions essay. He always thought that Nishigori and Yuuko were exaggerating when they told him how hard fifth year was, but he was wrong. He was so, so wrong.

“They’re trying to murder us.” Phichit moans from behind a stack of books.

“Death by homework.” Leo agrees mournfully.

“Forget getting through the second task.” Yuuri says. “It’ll be a miracle if I even get through another week of this.”

Leo lets out a sound that may or may not be a sob.

“Yuuri?” Yuuri blinks and looks around at the sound of his name.

“Hello!” It’s Mila, the girl who Viktor introduced him to at dueling club, walking up to their table. Her red hair clashes spectacularly with her maroon robes. “Great job in the first task!”

“Thanks.” Yuuri smiles. “Viktor did well too.”

“Of course he did.” She waves a hand dismissively. “Vitya is Vitya.” Her eyes flick to the empty seat next to Yuuri. “Mind if I sit? A few others are joining me soon, but they aren’t here yet.”

“Oh, sure.” Yuuri reaches and shifts some of his books out of the way, giving her some table space to set down her bag.

Leo and Phichit are eyeing her curiously. Yuuri is gearing up to an introduction, but Mila beams and them and does it herself before he can manage. “I’m Mila Babicheva.” She says. “From Durmstrang.”

“I figured.” Phichit says. “With the robes and all.”

She laughs. “And I can tell from yours that you’re in the badger house...what’s it called again?”

“Hufflepuff.” Phichit supplies. “And Leo here is in Gryffindor and Yuuri is in Slytherin.”

She tilts her head to the side, a wrinkle between her brows. “See, I don’t really get all that. You’re all Hogwarts students, right?” They nod. “But you’re in different houses? Why?”

“We get sorted when we first come here.” Says Leo, looking eager for a reason not to look at his homework any longer. Yuuri can relate. “There’s this magic hat that looks at you and decides what sort of person you are. Then you go with the other people similar to you.”

She bursts out laughing, loud enough that a nearby group of Ravenclaws glower at them. “Sorry!” She says once she manages to stop. “But that sounds completely ridiculous!”

Yuuri has to smile because, yeah, he’ll admit that from the outside sorting looking kind of stupid. He’s going to explain more, but they’re interrupted by another Durmstrang student rounding the corner and coming up to their table.

“Mila.” It’s Georgi, another of Viktor’s friends who Yuuri met briefly at the dueling club. “I’ve been looking all over for you”

“Oh, hey Georgi.” Mila says. “Sit down!” She pats the end of the table. “We were talking about the whole house thing here.”

“Ah,” Georgi says, pulling up a chair to the end of the table. “I’ll admit that I’m curious about that. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.”

“It makes sense.” Phichit says. “You get put in a house with other people who you can get along with.”

“You’re Hufflepuff….” Mila says, narrowing her eyes a bit. “That’s the one that’s about being nice, right?”

“We say working hard and being patient, but yeah basically.” Phichit agrees.

“What about the other ones?” Georgi asks.

“Leo here is in Gryffindor.” Phichit waves a hand towards him.

“We’re brave.” Leo says proudly.

“Some would say reckless.” Phichit murmurs to Yuuri. He snickers.

“How about you, Yuuri?” Mila asks. “You’re the snake one. What does that mean?”

“Slytherin.” He says, hand coming up to worry at his tie. “It’s um….” He always feels like describing his house is bragging, like he’s saying that he has traits he really doesn’t. It’s been five years, but he’s still not sure if he really belongs there.

Phichit answers for him. “Slytherins are ambitious, resourceful and,” He reaches diagonally across the table to tap Yuuri on the cheek. “Clever!”

Yuuri scowls and waves his hand away. “Phichit…”

“Oh,” Mila says, “That makes sense.”

Georgi is nodding in agreement.

Yuuri is bewildered. What in Merlin’s name has he done to make them think that? So far all they’ve seen is him barely keeping up with Viktor at dueling club and generally lucking his way through the first task.

“Wait, I’m not…” He begins, but another Durmstrang cuts him off.

“Oi!” It’s the small blond Yuri, wearing a scowl that Yuuri is becoming sure is his default expression. “What are you two doing here? I’ve been looking for you all morning, morons.”

“Yura!” Mila grabs his arm and pulls him towards the table. “Sit with us!” She shoves him towards a chair between Phichit and Leo.

Yuri scoffs, but sits. “Why are you two messing are with Hogwarts idiots?”

“No offense.” Leo says under his breath.

“Yuuuuura.” Mila huffs.

Yuri just shrugs, like he can’t be blamed for his rudeness.

“Are you separated at all at Durmstrang?” Yuuri asks, eager to stop Yuri from going off on a tear against their school that would prompt Leo into Gryffindor-ish action, but also genuinely curious about it.

“In a way.” Georgi says. “Students are split into groups based on magical potential called _komanda_.”

“Magical potential?” Yuuri repeats, confused.

“How strong a person’s magic is, idiot.” Yuri says. “Didn’t they just say you were supposed to be clever?”

“You weren’t here when I said that.” Phichit points out.

“Were you eavesdropping?” Mila says with a grin, “Oh, shame on you.”

Yuri ignores them and continues his explanation. “Your _komanda_ is made up of people who can keep up with you magically. That’s all.”

“They’re also the people you spend almost all of your time with.” Georgi says.

“So you usually can’t help becoming friends!” Mila finishes.

“Unfortunately.” Yuri says in a low voice. “Viktor, Mila, Georgi and me are all in one.”

Yuuri bites back a giggle, but manages to school himself into seriousness to say, “But Yuri, you’re younger than them, right?”

“It’s based on potential, not age.” Georgi says. “And we do have a few more younger members in our _komanda_ , but they’re back at Durmstrang just like Yuri is supposed to be.”

“Wait,” Leo says with a grin, “Did you...did you _sneak aboard your ship_ to get here?” He looks absolutely delighted when Yuri’s cheeks color in what is practically an admission of guilt.

The table breaks down into snickers, even solemn Georgi laughing a bit.

“Oh, what’s so funny?” A voice makes Yuuri’s laughter catch in his throat. He looks over his shoulder to see Viktor, tall and beautiful even in the yellow light of the library lamps. He smiles when he catches Yuuri’s eye. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Yuuri feels breathless.

“I wondered where you all had got to.” Viktor looks away from Yuuri and goes to grab a chair from a nearby empty table. He drags it over to Yuuri’s other side and settles down. The table is getting cramped. Their arms are almost touching.

“So!” Viktor says with a smile. “What were you talking about?”

“The time Yura snuck aboard the ship and almost gave Yakov a heart attack.” Mila says with a matching smile.

“How did you even get on the ship without him noticing?” Phichit asks curiously.

“It’s a bit of a long story…” Yuri says and, if Yuuri isn’t mistaken, he looks kind of embarrassed.

“Tell them, Yura.” Mila says.

“Shut up, hag!” He snaps at her, making her laugh.

“We should probably get some work done, you guys…” Yuuri protests weakly, but things kind of spiral after that. Yuuri spends the next ten minutes alternating between hoping they don’t get yelled at for making too much noise, trying to look at his schoolbook and determinedly not looking at Viktor.

He’s not very good about that last part.

Yuuri finally gives up, looking up from his textbook with a sigh.

“No, man.” Leo is saying, a hand on Georgi’s shoulder. “It’s neither of your faults. You just weren’t right for each other.”

Georgi is slumped on the table, head in his hands. “I still love her so much!” He moans, “Why can’t she see that?”

“You need to move on.” Leo says sagely. “Focus on something else for a while. When I’m upset, I think about music. What makes you happy?”

“Annnnnyaaaaa!” Georgi wails.

The idea of schoolwork actually being done seems to have died a little while ago, somewhere between Viktor asking Phichit a question about where he was from and Phichit deciding to explain to concept of instagram to a group of wizards who all seem to be technology-phobic purebloods.

“No…” He’s saying to Yuri for probably the ninth time, “The filters don’t make you look like a tiger. That one is called snapchat and…”

Yuuri tunes him out and looks down at his textbook. He’s been on the same page (explaining how to properly stew slugs for a Living Death potion) for more than half an hour now. Ugh, he is going to fail _literally everything_.

“What are you working on?” Viktor’s voice makes Yuuri look up even though he really shouldn't. Viktor is still sitting next to Yuuri, chin propped on a hand. He has a textbook out in front of him too, but he’s not looking at it.

Yuuri flips a page in his own book because he’s starting to get vaguely nauseous after looking at slugs getting boiled for so long. “Potions.” He says.

“Potions are boring.” Viktor says, wrinkling his nose. “I’ve never had much patience for them.”

“Same, honestly.” Yuuri sighs, giving up and pushing the book away. “They take too long to be exciting.”

Viktor grins. “What’s your favorite, then? Your favorite kind of magic?”

“Charms.” Yuuri answers without even thinking about it. “I’m good at charms.”

“Better than good, I think.” Viktor says. “I did duel you, you remember. You kept me on my toes the whole time.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” Yuuri says and then rushes on, not wanting to focus on himself. “You, though. What’s your favorite?”

“Hmmm.” Viktor taps his cheek with a finger. “That’s a good question. I don’t know if I have a favorite school of magic, exactly. Transfiguration, maybe, because you can do practically anything with it. But charms can be fun too and jinxes are so simple to cast…” He lowers his hand and sits up a little. “I suppose what I really like is interesting magic.” He smiles thoughtlessly. “The sort that surprises people.”

“Like how you turned the floor of the cave to ice in the first task?” Yuuri asks.

“You watched?” Viktor says, looking surprised.

“After the task, yeah. I slept through it the first time, though.” Yuuri says. He had gone up to Minako’s office the day after and watched Viktor and Sara’s runs through the labyrinth. Both of them were impressive; Viktor had neat, flashy spellwork and Sara had a huge amount of destructive power.

“Oh.” Viktor says, still looking surprised, and then his smile widens. “I’m glad you watched.”

“What is this, some kind of champion meet-up?” A familiar voice makes Yuuri look away from Viktor’s smile. Sara Crispino is standing there, clutching a book to her chest.

She still looks a bit worn-down, even three days after the task. Yuuri’s been looking for her, trying to make sure that she’s all right, but she seems to be spending all of her time either in classes or back in the Beaubaxton’s carriage. She’s even stopped coming to Yuuri’s charms classes.

Yuuri waves his hands. “No, no! It happened on accident, I promise! I wasn’t trying to not invite you or…”

Sara laughs. “Yuuri, calm down. I was only kidding.”

“Would you like to join us?” Mila asks loudly, leaning across Yuuri a bit so she’s closer to Sara.

Sara’s cheeks flush a little bit. “Um, sure.” She says. “That should be fun.”

“Yuuri, scoot your chair over!” Mila hisses and so Yuuri does, shifting his chair away from Mila and watching with bemusement as she conjures up another one right between them. “Here!” Mila says.

“T-thanks!” Sara is still blushing, but she looks pleased. “Do you mind, Yuuri?”

“Of course not.” Yuuri says, but he’s busy trying not to brush up against Viktor. Their chairs are too close together. It’s even more cramped now and Mila keeps making Sara laugh, bright, infectious and right in Yuuri’s ear. Despite his best efforts not to touch, his arm is pressed up against Viktor’s. He feels too warm all of the sudden.

Everything is too warm and too loud and too close. His breath hitches. He needs more air and fewer peoples' voices grating at his ears.

“I’m going to get a book.” Yuuri says, abruptly getting to his feet. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Yuuri?” Phichit says.

“Just a minute.” He says and Phichit nods his understanding.

Yuuri needs space sometimes. Phichit has always been good about giving it to him.

He leaves the table and crosses to the far side of the library, weaving between tall shelves. The library is a bit dusty and a bit too warm, but t here’s something about it, worn but well cared-for, that makes him think of home. Yuuri spends a little while wandering about, not actually looking for anything in particular.

He turns down an empty row and pulls a book off the shelf at random. It’s a book about dragons. The one on the cover shimmers and roars, displaying large, sharp teeth. He’s never seen a dragon up close before and for that he’s grateful.

He leans against the shelf, flipping through the book for a few pages. It’s old, the pages soft and worn beneath his fingertips.

“There you are.”

“V-viktor?” Yuuri spins around, snapping the dragon book shut.

“Sorry.” Viktor's lips twitch into a smile and then back to seriousness. “I just wanted to speak with you. If you wanted to be alone…”

“No!” Yuuri blurts out. “No. It’s fine. I just...needed to take a minute.” He turns to put the dragon book back on the shelf.

“Can I take a minute with you?” VIktor’s voice sounds playful again, the seriousness gone.

Yuuri glances over his shoulder and huffs a laugh. “Just a minute?”

“Just a minute.” Viktor grins back at him, unfairly beautiful in the low light of the library. He tilts his head towards the ground. “Let’s sit.”

Yuuri shrugs and does just that, sitting in the middle of the narrow aisles of dusty books, hidden from view. Viktor settles next to him, adjusting his Durmstrang robes.

“Do those get hot?” Yuuri asks, honestly curious.

“My robes?” He says and Yuuri nods. Viktor shrugs. “A bit. Durmstrang is in a colder climate, after all. But with winter coming, I don’t mind. Besides,” He grins wide, “I’m always hot, Yuuri.”

Yuuri would like to thank five years of Christophe Giacometti’s awful pickup lines for providing him with enough built-up resistance to merely blush at that line instead of straight-up dying.

Yuuri covers his face with both hands and moans in distress.

Viktor laughs. “That bad, huh?” Yuuri peeks out between his fingers. Viktor is smiling. “I thought it was kind of clever.”

“Viktor,” Yuuri says faintly, “That was the worst thing I’ve ever heard. The _worst_. And I live with Chris.”

“Chris?” Viktor frowns and then brightens. “Oh, Christophe?” Yuuri nods. “I love Chris! I forgot he was part of your team.”

“House.” Yuuri corrects absently. Viktor just waves a hand, like it isn’t important.

“Seriously, though.” He says. “That line wasn’t as bad as the stuff Chris says, Yuuri. Chris is the living embodiment of a horrible pickup line.”

Yuuri lets out a little laugh. “You’re not wrong.”

They lapse into silence after that, but it’s not uncomfortable. Yuuri leans back against the books, their spines pushing against his, and looks up at the high, stone ceilings. “You said you wanted to talk.” He prompts Viktor after a little while.

“Yes.” Viktor shifts a little bit, minutely closer to Yuuri. “I wanted to talk a bit more about your performance in the first task.” Yuuri’s shoulders stiffen as he recalls his dreadful attempts at transfiguring the rock monster, but Viktor continues before he can speak. “It was impressively done. Especially your charmwork! The lumos variants were lovely, of course, and that one you used to find where the treasure was, what was it…”

“ _Viam invenire_.” Yuuri supplies, voice low.

“Yes.” Viktor says brightly. “I had never heard of it before! It was a clever spell for you to use there, very clever. It’s probably why Yakov scored you so high. He always tells us that power isn’t as important as cleverness.”

“It was actually dumb luck that I even knew it.” Yuuri says awkwardly, feeling like Viktor is giving him too much credit. “When I was a first year, an older student showed me it because I kept getting lost.”

“It doesn’t matter how you learned it. A spell is a spell. You shouldn’t discount yourself.” Viktor says. “It was a job well done. You should be prouder of yourself.”

Yuuri doesn’t know what to say to that, so he stays silent.

“I guess what I really wanted to say was that I’m sorry for how I acted before.” Viktor says, looking sidelong at Yuuri. “You’re a great wizard, Yuuri, you and Sara both, and that shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.”

“Oh.” Yuuri is surprised and he doesn’t quite know what to say. “I...thanks.”

VIktor just nods. They sit there, just barely not touching, in silence for a while. An owl hoots softly from somewhere nearby. Yuuri thinks he can hear faint laughter, probably from the table they left just a bit ago. Viktor, fidgeting a little, pulls down a book off the shelf across from them.

“A Practical Guide to Kelpie Husbandry.” He reads aloud. “Sounds like a pageturner.”

“I hear it’s a thrill ride from start to finish.” Yuuri says and Viktor snickers, leaning over the slide the book back into place.

“Y’know, when I was about ten a kelpie took up residence in one of the lakes on our property.” He says conversationally. Yuuri chokes a little bit at the implication of Viktor’s family having enough property to justify _multiple lakes_ , but Viktor doesn’t appear to notice his distress and keeps going. “I used to wander the grounds with my dog, but once that happened my parents made me stay in the house for weeks. It was miserable.”

“You had a dog?” Yuuri asks.

“Still do.” Viktor says with a fond smile. “Makkachin. She’s my sweet girl. I miss her terribly when I’m at school.” He glances sidelong at Yuuri. “Do you like dogs, Yuuri?”

Yuuri nods. “I wanted one when I was younger, but mom said it was a bad idea since I’d have to leave them home when I was at school.”

“That sounds far more practical than what I do.” Viktor admits. “You should get one when you graduate, though. Dogs are nice.”

“Dogs are nice.” Yuuri agrees.

They sit there a little bit longer, but Yuuri feels calm again. Centered.

“Ready to go back?” He asks, looking over at Viktor.

“If you are.” Viktor says.

Yuuri nods and gets to his feet. He turns to Viktor, who is still sitting. It’s strange to be taller for once. He extends a hand to Viktor, hoping to help him get up. Viktor takes it. His hand is long-fingered and warm.

Once he’s standing, Yuuri lets go.

They meander back to the table together, Viktor following Yuuri’s lead. He understands why. The library is huge. If a person hadn’t spent years in it already, it would probably be easy to get lost.

They get back to the table soon enough, settling back into their empty seats. Viktor’s arm brushes Yuuri’s. He flushes, but doesn’t pull away.

“Ah, I see that Viktor found you.” Phichit says, eyes flicking curiously between them. “Did you get what you needed?”

“I, ah…” Yuuri flushes, remembering that he lied about needing a book to get away. “No. They didn’t have it.”

“Too bad.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“So what did you talk about?” Phichit asks curiously. “You and Viktor, I mean.”

Yuuri smiles at Viktor. Viktor smiles back.

“Kelpie husbandry.” He says.

“ _What_?”

**~~~~**

Yuuri spends every minute when he’s not in classes, at dueling club or doing homework trying to figure out the second task. The clues that the heads of school gave them were frustratingly vague, so all Yuuri can do is fling identification spell after identification spell at the little golden cube.

There’s a net of magical protections around it, he’s figured out that much, but he can’t figure out how break or get around them.

“ _Idema occulata_.” He tries, waving his wand.

The cube maybe glows a little bit, but nothing really happens.

“Come on!” He drags a hand through his hair, frustrated. He’s in the empty Slytherin common room, sitting on the floor with the cube in front of a dying fire. It’s chilly in the common room. The windows here only show a view of the lake, but he’s sure that far up above the snow that started to fall that evening is still falling. It’s either very late or very early, he hasn’t decided. Either way, his housemates are asleep.

“ _Revelio_.” He mutters, even though he’s tried that before.

Nothing happens.

Yuuri sighs and slumps backwards, leaning against the bottom of a plush, green couch. He’s being stupid. He has classes in the morning and so much homework that he hasn’t even started on. There’s still months before the second task, but…

He closes his eyes. Every time he lets himself think about it, his heart races and his jaw tightens. He managed, somehow, to not completely fail the first task and now everyone, his school, his house, his friends, Sara, Viktor, _everyone_ , expects him to do at least as well in the second task.

He can’t fail here.

He opens his eyes even though the dim firelight makes them ache after too many hours awake. He straightens up even though his spine protests after too much time crouched the same way.

The little golden cube gleams innocuously in the firelight.

“What _are_ you?” He hisses.

The cube, predictably, does not reply.

  **~~~~**

The Hufflepuff common room is always unusually warm. Yuuri isn’t sure if it’s because of their proximity to the kitchens or something else, but the air here always seems to run a few degrees hotter than the rest of the castle. It’s nice since it’s so cold outside. Outside, snow has been falling on and off for a solid week.

He, Leo, Guang Hong and Phichit are all lazing around the room, ignoring the occasional curious glances from the other Hufflepuffs. Most of them don’t mind when students from other houses wander in and out, but it’s unusual for them to just hang around like this.

But it’s too cold to spend time outside in their usual spot by the lakeside and the library is crammed full of panicked fifth years buried under OWL loads of homework. Yuuri should probably be there too, but he’s so tired of schoolwork. He needs a break, even if it’s just for an afternoon.

They’re talking absently about a letter from Leo’s brother in America when with a tiny pop four neatly folded notes appear and fall into their respective laps.

“What?” Yuuri blinks, sitting up and grabbing the note. It’s got his name and house printed neatly on the front and, when he opens it, there’s a time, tomorrow afternoon at four, a place, the Slytherin common room, and the signature of his head of house. “A house meeting?”

“Mmm.” Phichit looks curiously at the note that’s been dropped in front of him. “Looks like we’ve got a meeting with Celestino then too.”

“Same with us and Arch.” Leo says, looking over his own note. “I wonder what it’s about.”

“Triwizard stuff, d’you think?” Guang Hong says idly. He’s lying on one of the overstuffed couches that dot the common room, helping himself to one of the platters of baked goods that always seem to be sitting on the tables in the Hufflepuff common room.

“Could be.” Leo agrees. “Have you heard anything, Yuuri?”

Yuuri shakes his head. “The next thing up is the second task, as far as I know.”

“How’s that going, by the way?” Leo asks curiously.

“I…uh…” Yuuri suddenly finds the worn, yellow carpet he’s sitting on very interesting.

“Don’t sweat it.” Leo reaches over to pat his shoulder. “You never let us down, Yuuri.”

Yuuri knows that Leo is trying to be nice, he knows that. But those words add just a bit more to the load on his shoulders.

**~~~~**

The next afternoon, Yuuri and the rest of his house is gathered in the common room. It’s a bit cramped, people sitting on the floor and leaning up against walls so that they’ll all fit. Their head of house, Professor Karpisek, is standing in front of the fireplace with a roll of parchment in one hand. His red-framed glasses glint in the low light.

Yuuri is standing near the back of the crowd, his back against the massive glass window that shows a view of the lake. Outside, the sun is still weakly shining through cottony clouds, but the water is already a dark, brackish gray. High above, the surface is already covered with a filmy layer of ice. Soon, it’ll be completely frozen over.

“Good to see you all,” Karpisek says. “We’ll make this quick. I know you all have things you should be doing.”

“Oh, so many _things_.” Chris leers from his spot at the front of the crowd.

“Down Chris.” Professor Karpisek sighs and rolls up the parchment. “Now, I’m here today to talk about the Yule Ball. Some of you might already know, but the Yule Ball is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament.”

Yuuri blinks and straightens up a little. A few members of his house glance back at him.

“What is it, exactly?” A sixth year sitting on one of the wingback armchairs asks.

“It’s a ball, for you all and for our guests visiting from other schools. It will take place on Christmas, so you might want to stay at the school for Christmas even if you usually go home.”

“Do we have to, Professor?” A tiny first year pipes up.

“No, of course not.” Karpisek says. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. And besides, only students from fourth year and up will be allowed to go.” There’s a collective groan from the younger student at the words, but Karpisek ignores them and continues.

“It is a formal event, so be sure to dress accordingly. That means dress robes, understood?” There’s a murmur of agreement from the students. “Great. Now, I shouldn’t need to remind you, but make sure you act in a way that makes Slytherin house proud.” He seems to be look at Chris. Like, just at Chris. “Do you understand?”

“Of course!” Chris gives him a salute.

Karpisek looks entirely disbelieving, but he lets it go. “I think that’s everything. If you have questions, you can always ask me. But for now, you’re dismissed.”

Yuuri doesn’t think he’ll go to the ball. Big parties like that have never really been something that he likes. Phichit will probably try to drag him there, but he doesn’t even have dress robes. Sure, he could order some or have his mom send him a set, but it just seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

The students start to get up and leave the common room, some heading back to dorms and others heading out to get an early start on homework or dinner. Yuuri is planning on going to the library to do some reading on the cube he still hasn’t managed to make a dent in, but he hears a voice calling him and he stops.

“Katsuki.” Karpisek is waving him over. “A word.”

Yuuri makes his way over, ignoring a catcall from Chris.

“What is it, Professor?” Yuuri asks, raising his voice a little so he can be heard over the clamor of the other students shifting and leaving. “Have I done something wrong?”

“Of course not, Yuuri.” Karpisek says. “You’ve done Slytherin proud all year.”

“Um, thanks.” Yuuri shifts from foot to foot. The other students still in the common room are casting curious glances at Yuuri and Karpisek. “What was it you needed to talk to me about, then?”

“It’s not a big deal,” He says, “But I wanted to make you aware that you and your date will be dancing at the beginning of the ball. Make sure you let them know so they’re not surprised, okay?”

“Okay.” Yuuri agrees numbly, then stops when he realizes what he’s agreeing to. “Wait, _what_? I have to go to the ball?”

Karpisek looks perplexed. “Of course. You’re one of the champions, after all.” He pats Yuuri on the shoulder. “This ball is about you.”

“Oh.” Yuuri says numbly. “Right. About me. Great.”

Karpisek pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Katsuki. You’re the Hogwarts Champion. How hard could getting a date be for you?”

Yuuri bites back a panicked laugh. “O-of course, sir.”

“Have a good night.” Karpisek says before patting Yuuri’s shoulder one more time and leaving the common room.

Yuuri numbly watches him go. This is…not great.

A date. He needs a date. A date usually implies…romantic interest. Yuuri has only ever wanted to date one person and that person was Yuuko, back when they were both the only kids in Hasetsu who ever wanted to hang out at the old ice rink.

He could ask Yuuko to the ball. Yuuko is pretty and kind and Yuuri still feels kind of warm when he looks at her. There’s no one else he wants to ask, right?

Blue eyes and a fall of silver hair come to mind unbidden, but…no. Viktor is older and popular and a Champion. He would never want to go to the ball with someone like Yuuri.

He’ll ask Yuuko.

Tomorrow, maybe. Or next week. Yeah, next week is probably better. Tomorrow is too soon, too sudden. He needs time to get dress robes, to talk to Phichit about everything.

He takes a deep breath and tries not to feel like he’s suffocating. It’s just a dance, just Yuuko. He’ll be fine.

**~~~~**

A week later, Yuuri is sitting at the Slytherin house table at dawn. There are maybe a dozen students and professors scattered around, all picking at breakfast and drinking strong tea and coffee.

Yuuri yawns widely and hates the sun above that’s staining the clouds with gold and pink. Yuuri _hates_ mornings and loves sleep, but he had a nightmare about the dark, empty tunnels of the first task around four in the morning and he couldn’t get back to sleep.

He pulls some dry toast to himself and eats it. It’s disgusting and everything is terrible.

“Yuuri?”

He looks up to see purple eyes and a tired smile.

“Sara!” He says. “Hi.”

“Can I sit down?” She asks, hands clasped behind her back.

“Sure.”

She settles beside him. “Thanks.”

They sit in silence for a little while. Yuuri continues to munch on his horrible toast and Sara pours herself some black coffee.

“I haven’t seen you around lately.” Yuuri comments.

“Been busy.” Sara says.

“Sorry.” Yuuri says because he can’t think of a better response.

She laughs and it’s tired, but real. “Why are you sorry?”

“I…I don’t know.” He feels himself blushing. “I just…I am? I guess?”

She’s smiling now. “You apologize too easily, Yuuri.”

“My friend Phichit says the same thing.” Yuuri tells her.

“He is the Hufflepuff, right? The fifth year?” Yuuri nods. “He’s kind. Is he your date to the ball?”

Yuuri almost chokes on his toast. “Phichit? No! He’s my friend. And he’s so…so social. I’m sure he’s already got a date. Or five dates, I don’t know. Phichit is impressive like that.”

She laughs. “Five dates?”

“His charisma is scary sometimes.”

“So, do you have five dates Yuuri?”

“I’m being more conservative.” He jokes. “I’ve only got three.”

“Oh, very smart.” Sara says. “Wouldn’t want them to get jealous of each other.”

“You get it.”

They lapse back into silence for a bit. A few more students trickle into the hall. Leo troops in with some friends from the quidditch team. He waves at Yuuri, but doesn’t come over.

“Do you have a date to the ball?” Sara breaks the silence.

Yuuri chokes on his own spit. Sara thumps him on the back until he can breathe again. “I…ugh, sorry.” He picks up his orange juice, takes a sip and then wipes his mouth. “Um, no. I don’t have a date.”

Yuuri is worried for a moment that she’s going to ask him. He thinks Sara’s great, she’s funny and nice, but he doesn’t like her like that. Besides, he’s going to ask Yuuko. Not today, because he’s tired and has horrible dark circles under his eyes, but soon. This weekend. He’ll ask her then.

“I want to ask Mila.” Sara says.

“From Durmstrang?”

She nods, her cheeks a little red.

“Oh, well I think that’s great!” Yuuri smiles at her. “I think she really likes you.”

“You think so?” She looks sidelong at Yuuri.

He nods. “Yeah, I do.”

She smiles right back at him, happiness cutting right through the exhaustion. “Thanks Yuuri. For the record, I think Viktor likes you too.”

“ _Viktor_?” His voice cracks. “Viktor Nikiforov? He doesn’t…he’d never like someone like me.”

Her smiles turns toothy. “I’m sure he stares at _everyone_ like that when they’re not looking.”

“He looks at me?” Yuuri says, bewildered. Viktor couldn’t…could he?

“Oh, he doesn’t like you.” Sara says airily. “Does he?”

“Sara!” Yuuri complains and she laughs.

“Just think about it.” She says. “Okay?”

Yuuri rolls his eyes. Sara is wrong, surely. Viktor would never like someone like Yuuri. It’s completely ridiculous.

“Fine.” He says, just to make her stop talking about it. “I’ll think about it.”

**~~~~**

“Oi. Pig.”

“What?” Yuuri blinks, confused

Yuri Plietsky, small, blond and drowning in too-big red robes, is standing in the hallway in front of Yuuri with his arms folded and glaring at him.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Um, okay?” Yuuri tilts his head to the side. “About what?”

“Not here.” Yuri says. “Follow me.” He turns and stalks off without checking to see of Yuuri is following him.

“What are you…?” Yuuri doesn’t have time for this. It’s three days before the Yule Ball and he still hasn’t asked Yuuko. Besides, he doesn’t even know Yuri beyond an afternoon or two spent with him and Viktor’s other friends in the library.

“Come on!” Yuri glances back at him and snaps.

Yuuri, honestly more out of curiosity and confusion than anything else, follows.

They reach an empty classroom and Yuri walks inside, closing the door after Yuuri walks through the door.

“What did you want?” Yuuri asks as soon as the door shuts. He’s too tired and too stressed to be polite right now.

Yuri crosses the room and hops up onto the teacher’s empty desk. Sunlight is coming from the high windows, turning his pale hair even paler. He looks almost angelic like this.

“Your transfiguration is shit.” Yuri says plainly and the angel image is immediately gone.

“D-did you call me in here to insult me?” Yuuri asks. “Because as fun as that sounds, I have other things to do.”

“Wait.” Yuri says, looking annoyed. “I’m not done.”

Yuuri sighs and walks to stand right in front of him. “I have things I need to be doing, Yuri.”

“Yeah, and getting better at transfiguration is one of them.” He says. “I saw the first task. You totally choked when it came to that rock monster. If you want to win, then you need to get better. Fast.”

“And you have a way for me to do that?” Yuuri asks, honestly just confused now.

“Yeah.” Yuri says. “I’m going to teach you.”

“Why would you help me?” Yuuri asks. That’s the part he doesn’t understand. Yuri is from a different school and, apparently, a part of Viktor’s _komanda_. The idea that he would help out another competitor doesn’t make any sense.

“Because like hell am I going to let Viktor win.”

“ _What_?”

Yuuri glowers at him, green eyes flashing in the sunlight. “Viktor Nikiforov thinks he needs to prove that he’s the best thing in the entire world, but he doesn’t. Also, he’s an idiot.” He clenches his hands into fists. “And I don’t want him to win.”

“You hate him that much?” Yuuri murmurs.

“I don’t hate Viktor.” Yuri snaps. “I care about that moron.”

“But you don’t want him to win?”

“Trust me.” Yuri says. “The last thing Viktor needs is more attention.”

Yuuri blinks. “Okay?” He doesn’t really get it, but he also gets the feeling that Yuri isn’t going to stop and explain himself.

“Besides, I should have been the champion anyway.” Yuri snaps. “Yakov should have let me enter. Once Viktor loses to some dumpy nobody, he’ll see that.”

“So are you doing this for Yakov or Viktor?” Yuuri asks.

“Neither. Both. I don’t know.” Yuri rolls his eyes, like Yuuri is stupid for asking. “I’m doing it for myself, mostly. And for you.” He folds his arms. “So? Are you gonna learn from me or not?”

“I…”

The idea of getting transfiguration lessons from a thirteen-year-old is humiliating. Yuuri is the Hogwart’s Champion. He’s not some first year who can’t hold his wand the right way.

But Yuri isn’t wrong. Without a better grasp on transfiguration, Yuuri’s chances at winning the cup aren’t great.Twelve points separate himself and Viktor. If he stays the way he is now, those twelve points will never go away. Yuuri will never surpass Viktor.

And despite the way Yuuri’s breath catches when he sees Viktor’s impossibly blue eyes and despite the way he blushes when Viktor smiles at him, Yuuri wants that. He wants to beat Viktor. He wants to win.

And for that, he can swallow his pride.

He takes out his wand and breathes deep.

“Okay.” He says. “Show me what you know.”

Yuri bares his teeth in a vicious smile. “Let’s get started.”

**~~~~**

Yuuri wakes up on Christmas morning to the usual pile of presents on the foot of his bed. Usually, the sight of his presents fills him with happiness. But today, it fills him with panic. It’s Christmas. The Yule Ball is tonight.

The Yule Ball is tonight and Yuuri _still hasn’t asked Yuuko_.

He looks at his pile of presents. He doesn’t want to open them. He just wants to hide back under his blankets and stay there for a hundred years. Eventually, though, the noise from his yearmates opening their own gifts is too much and he sits up with a sigh, pulling the presents towards himself.

He opens them one by one, smiling a little and trying really hard not to think about the night to come. There’s a cozy sweater from his parents in Slytherin colors and a bunch of wizarding candy from Mari, as well as his ice skates with a note attached to them wishing him a happy Christmas and good luck in the tournament. Phichit has sent him a journal and a scrapbook full of muggle photos that he took during the winter break he spent in Hasetsu two years ago. Leo and Guang Hong’s gift is a new case for his glasses that magically cleans and repairs them. Yuuko’s is a new pair of mittens that look cozy and warm.

The gift at the bottom of the stack is wrapped in gold paper and doesn’t have a name written on it. Yuuri turns it over in his hands, looking for a tag or a card, but there isn’t one. Could it be another present from his parents?

He rips the paper open. It’s a book, new and clearly unopened. The title, in crisp green font, reads _One With the Waterhorses: A Practical Guide to Kelpies in Europe_.

Oh, no. There’s only one person who would have gotten him this…

He opens the front cover and, sure enough, there is a note their written in a looping scrawl:

_Yuuri!_

_Hopefully this will satisfy all of your kelpie husbandry needs! If not, maybe we could spend some time looking together. I look forward to                                                              getting to know you better._

_All the best,_

_V. Nikiforov_

Yuuri blushes and then proceeds to feel horrible. He hadn’t gotten Viktor anything. It hadn’t even crossed his mind! He even got Sara a few chocolate frogs, but he never imagined that Viktor might send him a Christmas gift.

“Oh, Merlin…” He moans, looking down at the book in his hands.

“What’s wrong, mate?” One of the boys asks him. “Get something you didn’t like?”

“No, I just…” He stares mournfully down at the book some more. “Kelpies.”

“Uh…sure.” The boy answers. “Well, happy Christmas, Katsuki.”

“Uh hu.” Yuuri responds miserably.

He gets out of bed and puts on his robes, miserably. Then he goes down to breakfast and eats, also miserably. And then he heads up to the Gryffindor common room, still miserably.

He stands outside the portrait of the fat lady and takes a deep breath. Okay. He just has to get through this. He just has to ask Yuuko to the ball and then get through the ball and then he can deal with the whole kelpie situation.

Okay.

He can do this.

He gives the fat lady the password that he knows thanks to Leo and steps inside. Luckily, he spots Yuuko sitting on a scarlet couch close to the roaring fireplace.

“Yuuri!” She says with a smile when she sees him. “Happy Christmas!”

“Happy Christmas.” He says and tries not to feel like he’s going to throw up. “Thanks for the mittens.”

“Thank you for the book.” She says. “It looks really interesting.” She pats the couch next to her. “Come and sit with me for a bit. I have some time before I need to start getting ready for the ball.”

He goes and sits, fidgeting for a moment before he just blurts out the question he’s been meaning to ask for over a month now.

“Do you have a date for the ball tonight?” He asks. His vision is blurry and he can’t feel his toes.

“Yeah!” She smiles at him and he feels cold. “Nishigori asked me a few weeks ago.”

“Right.” Of course Yuuko wasn’t just waiting there, static, for him to finally get up the courage to ask her. He doesn’t know why he assumed she wouldn’t have a date. She’s not a prize, she’s a person and Yuuri feels like an idiot and a bad friend.

He’s so stupid.

So very stupid.

Whatever, he’ll just go by himself. He’ll be the Hogwarts Champion with no date and it’ll be horrible and people will laugh at him and…

“Are you okay, Yuuri?” Yuuko asks, touching his arm. “You look pale all of the sudden.”

“M’fine.” He looks up from his shoes and gives her a grin gone rictus. “Hey, Yuuko?”

“What is it, Yuuri?” She looks at him, her brown eyes warm and as familiar as anything.

If this was one of Mari’s cheesy romance novels that Yuuri used to sneak and read under the covers at night, this would be the confession. This would be the time when Yuuri would tell Yuuko that he always liked her, always thought they would end up together. Then she would cry and they would embrace and kiss and live happily ever after.

But he hasn’t really liked her for years now and he’s actually happy for her and Nishigori. They’re going to be good together. They’ve been good together for a while now.

He breathes deep and squeezes her arm once before letting go. “I hope you and Nishigori have fun.”

“Thanks!” She reaches out and hugs him tight before letting go. “I think we really will…he said that he’s been working up the nerve to ask me out all year, did you know that?”

Yuuri think of the time in Hogsmede, of the way they always spent time off just the two of them during the summer. “It makes sense.” He says and he feels so tired.

“So what about you?” She asks, “What's going on with you? Oh, how’s the second task going?”

“I, uh…” He hasn’t talked about it with anyone, but he’s tired and he feels like a failure for about fifty different reasons so he tells her the truth. “I’ve tried everything I can think of, but I haven’t gotten anything done.” He admits. “I don’t know how to open it. I have no idea how.”

“Yuuri…” She leans towards him. “You’re going to be able to do it. I know you will.”

“What if I can’t, though?” He whispers the thing that has been keeping him up at night for weeks now.

“You can.” She says. “I know you can.”

Yuuri shakes his head and gets to his feet. “I have to go. Have fun at the ball.”

“Yuuri…” She catches him by the arm.

“I need to go.” He doesn’t want to be around her anymore. He doesn’t want to be around anyone. He wonders if they’d send someone to find him if he just skipped the ball.

He leaves Gryffindor tower, walking a little ways before stopping in an alcove above some stairs. He leans against the stone wall, staring out the window. Outside, the world is coated in snow and frost. The lake, just barely visible, is iced over.

He’d like to go skating on it before it melts again. 

It’s easier to think about all of that. He doesn’t want to think about the ball, about the second task, about how he’s failing as a champion. He closes his eyes, leans his head against the wall.

Why did the goblet pick him?

“Hey, you! Katsuki!”

His eyes fly open.

There’s a boy standing in front of the alcove dressed in dark Hogwarts robes and a scowl. He’s a Gryffindor, probably a seventh year based on his height. He’s nearly a full foot taller than Yuuri.

Yuuri doesn’t know his name, but he thinks that he might recognize him from back in the common room. Does that mean…

“Did you follow me?” He asks, bewildered.

“I heard you talking to that girl.” The boy says, not answering his question. “You haven’t figured out the second task yet, have you?”

“No, but I…”

“And you couldn’t even win the first task.” The boy scoffs. “Do they really expect us to believe that you’re the best student at Hogwarts? Some plain-looking fifth-year _Slytherin_?”

“Look, I know I’m not a perfect champion, but…” Yuuri is overwhelmed, confused. Who is this person? Where is this coming from?

The boy cuts him off. “No, you aren’t.” His voice is dark. It sounds like alarm bells, like danger. “So many people would have done it better, _I_ would have been so much better!”

Yuuri knows then that he needs to leave. The words this boy is saying are acidic, spilling from his lips like poison, and Yuuri feels every one. He looks at the gleam in his eye and the clench of his fists. He highly doubts that the boy is going to let Yuuri leave after just calling him a few bad names.

Yuuri has painful, firsthand experience with people like this. He’s been the only boy in a ballet class. He’s been the strange boy who liked ice skating by himself more than hanging out with friends. He’s been magical in a town that was almost entirely not.

He knows what danger looks like.

A Gryffindor would fight, a Hufflepuff would go get a teacher, a Ravenclaw would try to think their way out.

But Yuuri is a Slytherin, has been made and grown and changed by Slytherin, so he takes out his wand and, without hesitating, he shoulders past the boy and tries to run.

He feels the Gryffindor clutch at his robes and Yuuri tries to yank himself away, but it’s no good. The boy grabs him by the shoulder and turns him around. There’s hate, hot and vicious, in his eyes.

“Someone else can finish this.” The Gryffindor growls. “Someone who can do it properly.”

He pushes Yuuri back, down the long, empty stairs. There’s a split second of the world tilting back, of weightlessness.

And then, impact.

**~~~~**

Yuuri wakes to a stone ceiling and warm lamplight. For a confusing moment, he thinks that he’s in the library. But, no…that wouldn’t make sense.

He blinks once, twice and looks down at his hands. One is bandaged.

It clicks, then. He’s in the hospital wing.

He tries to sit up, but his body protests with various aches and pains. He hurts as much as he did after the first task. It feels like he just went another round with the rock monster.

“Yuuri!” A voice makes him look over towards the side of his bed at the person sitting there. “You’re awake!”

Phichit is dressed in blue and white dress robes, his hair combed back. He looks nice, aside from the worry gathered in his eyes.

“Phichit.” Yuuri says and then stops to swallow. His mouth is dry. “What happened?”

“You were attacked. It was a Gryffindor, a seventh year.” Phichit says. He’s unsmiling, fingers worrying at the cuffs of his dress robes. “He shoved you off of a staircase.”

“Oh.” Yuuri closes his eyes for a minute. “Right.” In the dark behind his eyelids, he can still feel the sick sensation of falling, the bottom going out of the world.

“Two Ravenclaws saw what happened and they went and got a teacher right away. Then the teacher brought you here. That was about five hours ago.” Phichit is babbling bit, but Yuuri doesn’t mind. “Minako is taking the Gryffindor to the ministry right now.”

“What?” Yuuri frowns. “Why?”

“Yuuri…” Phichit puts his hands on the edge of Yuuri’s bed, on top of the covers. “You fell three stories. Your back was broken.” He looks away. His hands are shaking, just a bit. “He could have killed you.”

“I…” Yuuri trails off. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say. “Oh.”

“Do you…remember what happened?” Phichit says quietly. His eyes are red and watery. Yuuri sits up and, even though it hurts, he pulls his friend into a tight hug.

“Yeah.” Yuuri whispers. “I remember.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Phichit is still clutching him tightly.

“No.” Says Yuuri honestly. “Not yet.”

“Okay.” Phichit lets him go, leans back. “That’s fine.”

Yuuri looks at Phichit’s attire again, recognizing the dress robes he ordered for the Yule Ball. “What time is it?”

“Not sure.” Phichit says. “Past eight, probably.”

“You’re missing the ball.”

“I’m not going to go to the ball when you’re stuck here.”

“It’s okay, Phichit.” Yuuri says. “Go and dance for me.”

“Yuuri.” Phichit huffs. “Of course I’m not going to go and dance.”

“I just want to sleep.” Yuuri covers his face with a hand. He’s not lying. He doesn’t want to think anymore. He doesn’t want to think about the hate in the Gryffindor’s eyes, about the awful crunch feeling of hitting the stone floor. “I’ll still be here tomorrow, okay?”

“Are you sure?” Phichit asks with a frown.

“Go on.” Yuuri lowers his hand and smiles. “One of us should go have fun.”

“I don’t know how much fun it’ll be without you.” Phichit says.

Yuuri doesn’t know how he ever got lucky enough to have a best friend like Phichit, he really doesn’t. He pats Phichit’s knee. “Come on. I need you to go and tell me about everybody’s terrible outfits in the morning.”

Phichit smiles, just a bit. “I heard that Georgi from Durmstrang was trying to incorporate a lot of purple eyeshadow. Like, a _lot_ Yuuri.”

“You can’t miss that.” Yuuri says, patting his knee once more and then drawing back. “Tell Leo and Guang Hong I said hi. They went together, right?”

“Yeah.” Phichit smiles. “It’s cute.”

“It’s very cute.” Yuuri says. “Now go. You’ll miss it.”

“Thanks, Yuuri.”

“No, Phichit. Thank you.”

He leaves and then Yuuri’s alone.

He closes his eyes and for a while he dozes, but every time he gets close to sleep he can feel the weightlessness of fall, the sharp jolt of hitting the ground. Phichit said his back was broken...He shifts a bit, trying to feel it, but other than some soreness he feels mostly okay. His mind, though, is a bit wrecked.

Yuuri is considering calling the mediwitch and asking for dreamless sleep so he can stop thinking when he hears someone moving in the part of the room. He tries to swallow the fear. Phichit said Minako was taking the Gyrffidor who attacked him to the ministry. He’s not here anymore.

“Phichit, is that you?” He calls, “I told you to go have fun at the ball.”

“Not Phichit, I’m afraid.” A familiar accented voice floats through the darkness.

“I…” Yuuri tenses in surprise.

“Hi.” Viktor Nikiforov steps into the pool of light cast by the lamp on Yuuri’s bedside table. Viktor looks ethereal in the warm glow. He’s dressed in purple dress robes layered over white. There are pauldrons on his shoulders, gold and eye-catching.

“Viktor.” Yuuri knows he looks pale and awful and that he’s dressed in striped pajamas that make him look about six years old. “What...what are you doing here?”

“I wondered why you didn’t come to the ball.” He’s standing straight-backed, hands clasped behind his back. “So I asked a few people and they told me you were here instead.”

“Uh, yeah.” Yuuri can’t figure out what Viktor’s angle is. They’re nominally friends, but this seems like too much for that. Is he trying to figure out something about the next task while Yuuri’s guard is down? Yuuri’s still struggling on that front, so he’s out of luck. And he can’t think of any other reason why VIktor Nikiforov would be here, in the hospital wing when he’s so clearly dressed for the party happening downstairs.

Merlin, and Yuuri still hasn’t apologized for not getting him a Christmas gift.

“Can I sit?” He nods towards the chair at Yuuri’s bedside, the one Phichit had been sitting in.

“Okay.” Yuuri agrees tentatively.

For a moment, they sit in silence. Yuuri can feel Viktor looking at him. He keeps his eyes fixed on his hands bunched up in the bed sheets. He still can’t figure out why Viktor is even here.

“Another student attacked you?” Viktor’s voice is light, but it seems strangely deliberate. It’s almost like he’s trying hard to make it sound that way and not...something else.

Yuuri glances up. Blue eyes are fixed on his face. He looks hurriedly down at his hands again. “I, um, yes.” He takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. “It was my own fault. I was in the Gryffindor common room talking to one of my friends there and I mentioned how I still hadn’t figured out the clue for the second task and…”

Yuuri has to take a deep breath so he doesn’t cry. This is so stupid. But Viktor waits patiently until he starts again, the only sign of impatience his tightly-clenched fists. “A seventh year overheard. Most Gryffindors don’t like Slytherins much anyway, but when he heard that… I guess he thought if I was hurt badly enough, then they would give Hogwarts a new champion.” Yuuri swallows hard. His eyes feel hot, his throat tight. Merlin, he doesn’t want to cry again. “A better one.”

“Y _uu_ ri…” Viktor says his name like no one else ever has, drawing it out in the middle like he doesn’t want to stop saying it too soon. It makes Yuuri look up even though his eyes are wet and his cheeks are sticky. “There is no better champion. The goblet chose you.”

“Maybe it made a mistake.” Yuuri says softly, finally voicing what he’s been thinking for weeks now.

“The goblet doesn’t make mistakes.”

“Maybe it did this time.”

There’s a beat of quiet, the only sounds the faint murmur of partygoers in the hall passing the hospital wing on the way back to their dorms.

“I want to make you feel better.” Viktor says at last, sounding almost frustrated. He leans in closer, puts his hands on the edge of Yuuri’s bed. “But I’m not sure how.”

“ _Why_?” Yuuri asks. This is his problems, not Viktor’s. Viktor is a fellow competitor, he should be glad that the goblet picked a weak competitor like Yuuri, should be glad that Yuuri was injured, should be...

“I like you.” Viktor’s voice is soft, but certain.

Everything about Yuuri, his mind, his body, even his breathing for a second, goes still. Then feels something warm brush the back of his hand and he looks down to see Viktor’s long fingers brushing the back of his hand.

Viktor has always been touchy, seemingly uncaring about Yuuri’s personal space, but this...something about this feels different. Yuuri reaches out and catches VIktor’s fingers, his hand, before he can draw away again. He’s almost amazed at his own daring, but Viktor’s hand is warm and there’s no one looking at them. It’s just him and Viktor in this tiny pool of lamplight.

It feels like they’re the only two people in the whole world.

“Thank you for my Christmas gift.” Yuuri murmurs. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.”

“Mmm, it’s fine.” Viktor says softly. “We don’t really celebrate Christmas in Russia. I didn’t expect anything.”

“Still.” Yuuri says. “The book is lovely.”

Viktor laughs softly. “The seller down in Hogsmede said it was the premier guide to all things kelpie.”

Yuuri smiles, eyes flicking up to Viktor’s and then away.

“You date must be heartbroken.” Viktor says and his voice is a little high, a little shaky. “You would have looked lovely at the ball, I’m sure.”

“I, um...I didn’t…” Yuuri looks down at their intertwined hands. “I didn’t have a date.” He admits.

Viktor makes a noise of surprise. “Really?”

Yuuri just nods. He doesn’t want to think about it, not here and now, not when Viktor is sitting beside him and holding his hand.

“Dance with me?” Viktor asks suddenly.

Yuuri blinks, confused. Viktor wants to dance with him? Why? But he’s not sure how to ask that, exactly, so he just blurts out, “There’s no music.”

Viktor smiles. “Leave that to me.” He lets go of Yuuri’s hand to pull out his wand (pine, unicorn hair, 12 ¼ inches). He taps the waterglass on Yuuri’s bedside table. He murmurs something that Yuuri can’t quite catch, likely a transfiguration spell, and the glass shivers and then shifts into a wireless radio that’s just a bit too shiny.

It’s impressive magic, but Yuuri is expects no less from Viktor Nikiforov. He watches as Viktor stows his wand back in his robes and leans forward to fiddle with the dial.

“There we go.” He says with a smile when he reaches a station that’s playing a soft, slow song that Yuuri doesn’t know. Viktor stands and holds out a hand to Yuuri. “Now, come on. Dance with me.”

“O-okay.” Yuuri takes his hand and lets Viktor help him to his feet. His body is still a bit sore, but he feels almost back to normal. Even the arm that was broken is working like it should.

“All right?” Viktor asks, pulling Yuuri close.

“Fine.” Yuuri says, breathing in deep. He puts his arms tentatively around Viktor’s shoulders. He smells like new fabric and cologne this close.

“Where’s your date?” Yuuri asks, suddenly realizing that there’s no way Viktor went to the ball alone.

“I went with Chris as friends.” He says, putting his hands around Yuuri’s waist.

“Friends?” Yuuri repeats.

Viktor’s hands on his waist are warm and heavy. “Just friends.” He assures. “I’m not interested in Chris that way.”

“Oh.” Yuuri is quiet for a little bit as they slowly rotate. “Okay.”

“You’re a good dancer.” Viktor pulls Yuuri in a bit closer, putting his chin on the top of Yuuri’s head.

Yuuri laughs. “We’re not even really dancing, Viktor. We’re just sort of swaying.”

“You’re a good dancer, though.” Viktor inists. “I can tell.”

“Oh, can you?”

“I can.”

They spin slow, lazy circles together. Viktor’s arms are warm. Safe. Yuuri lets himself breathe.

“There’s an ice rink,” He says softly, slowly, “In my hometown. I’m not very good or anything, but whenever I’m home and I feel stressed or I don’t feel my best, I always go down to ice rink and just skate in circles for hours.”

“Oh?” Viktor’s voice is a low rumble in his chest. It sends a thrill though Yuuri.

“This right now?” Yuuri hums, leaning his head against Viktor’s chest. “It feels like that.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Yuuri.” Viktor murmurs.

“Thanks, Viktor.” Yuuri smiles even though Viktor can’t see it. “I’m glad too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wah, this got so out of hand...i guess we'll do the second task next chapter, then! 
> 
> the last scene, the one with viktor and yuuri dancing in the hospital wing, was the first one i wrote for this fic fyi...it just popped into my head one day and i was like "hey why not write a massive story to go around this one tiny scene because i have no self control!" ah, good times~ 
> 
> [here's the song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg8Ckamh8Gw) that i listened to on repeat while writing that last scene...despite the morbid title, it's a p good song! 
> 
> oh, and as for yuri's motivations to teach yuuri...those all go hand in hand with viktor's Tragic Backstory which i promise we will eventually be getting into here in the next couple chapters!
> 
> okay...this note is stupidly long. 
> 
> see you soon for the second task!


	4. flight

Two days after Christmas finds Yuuri lying in his bed in the hospital wing, surrounded by sweets and cards from well-wishers and his three best friends.

Phichit spent all of Boxing Day here too, going through the gifts he got and providing Yuuri with quiet, easy companionship. He insisted, though, on waiting until Leo and Guang Hong were there to tell Yuuri about the ball. Yuuri wasn’t overly concerned about waiting an extra day.

Now, all three of them are gathered around Yuuri’s bed, dressed in comfortable clothes and wearing smiles that are just a bit too-wide. Yuuri feels mildly and baselessly guilty, lying back in his hospital bed.

They worried about him. He never wanted to make them worry.

It’s not all bad, though. Leo and Guang Hong have been holding hands all morning in a way that they probably think is subtle but definitely isn’t. It makes Yuuri smile, but he doesn’t bring it up. They’ll talk about it if they want to talk about it. If they don’t, then Yuuri won’t make them.

“So, tell me about it.” Yuuri says, shifting a little bit amongst his massive piles of pillows. He never thought he’d be tired of lying in bed, but honestly after two days he’s starting to get _really tired_ of lying in bed.

“The Yule Ball?” Phichit asks.

“The Yule Ball.” Yuuri confirms.

“So, the Yule Ball.” Phichit says grandly.

“Merlin, Phichit.” Leo smacks him upside the head with the hand that isn’t holding Guang Hong’s. “You’re so annoying.”

Guang Hong sighs in a long-suffering way and turns to Yuuri. “What do you want to know?”

Yuuri shrugs. “I don’t know. Was it fun?”

“Um…” Guang Hong exchanges a glance with Phichit and Leo. “Not that fun.”

“Yeah.” Leo says slowly. “It was…kind of lame, actually.”

“So lame.” Phichit finishes with a nod.

Yuuri bites back a smile. “Guys.” He says, “You can tell me that it was fun. My feelings aren’t going to be hurt or anything.”

“But…” Phichit looks conflicted.

Yuuri rolls his eyes. “Honestly. It’s not the kind of thing that I would have liked anyway, but I want to know all three of you had a good time.”

“Fine.” Leo says, lips curling into an easy smile. “It was pretty fun.”

“Lots of fun.” Guang Hong adds, with a shy glance at Leo.

“Ugh, gross.” Phichit says, but he’s smiling. “These two finally got their act together Yuuri, did you see?”

“I…” Yuuri thought they were going to be respectful of boundaries, but whatever. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Gaung Hong is blushing, but he looks pleased.

“Now it’s just us who are single and lonely, right Yuuri?” Phichit sighs.

“You could find a date in like a second if you wanted, Phichit.” Yuuri accuses. “I’m pretty sure the younger Hufflepuffs all have crushes on you.”

“They do.” Guang Hong says in an undertone.

“Oh, hush.” Phichit says with a wave of his hand. “I’ve got nothing on you, Yuuri ‘Heartbreaker’ Katsuki.”

Yuuri laughs at that so hard that his ribs hurt. Well, it’s probably a combination of laughter and the fact that all of them are still pretty bruised. “That’s not nice, Phichit.

“Seriously, Yuuri?” Leo raises an eyebrow. “Like half of the school would date you if you asked.”

Yuuri just rolls his eyes. He doesn’t know why they’re teasing him like this, but it’s not really funny anymore. It’s kind of depressing, actually. He didn’t tell any of them he didn’t have a date, but really they must have assumed. Who would ever go with him?

“Whatever. What was the music like?” He asks because he wants to change the subject and because he knows that Leo will definitely have enough opinions on the music to keep them going for a while.

Phichit frowns at him, but Leo eagerly jumps on the topic. He spends the better part of an hour chattering excitedly about the band that played and their set list. By the time he’s done, everyone has thankfully moved past Yuuri’s romantic life.

“The music wasn’t the best part, though.” Phichit says.

“What was?” Yuuri asks. “The food?”

Phichit snorts a laugh. “Well, you might have thought so. But, no, I’m talking about the outfits!”

“The outfits?” Yuuri repeats blankly.

“There were some pretty neat outfits.” Guang Hong says. “But, oh wait, you know that Durmstrang kid with the same name as you?”

“Yuri Plisetsky?”

“Yeah, him.” Gunag Hong grins. “He wore leopard print dress robes.”

“Leopard print?” Yuuri repeats. “ _Seriously_?”

“It was awful.” Leo nods.

“But also a little bit amazing.” Phichit says with a grin.

“Mostly awful, though.” Leo says.

“How was Chris’s outfit?” Yuuri feels compelled to ask. He has seen Christophe in some truly horrible things before. He’s willing to bet that the Yule Ball made it worse instead of better.

Guang Hong snickers. “There were so many sparkles.”

“And _spandex_.” Leo adds, looking grave.

Yuuri is momentarily grateful to the Gryffindor who pushed him down the stairs. Sure, he almost died but at least he was spared the horror of seeing Chris in glittery spandex.

“My favorite had to be Seung-Gil.” Phichit says, flopping forward onto Yuuri’s bed. “Just…rainbows. Rainbows everywhere.”

“Are you serious?” Yuuri tries to picture serious, solemn Seung-Gil dressed in rainbows. He can’t. His brain just kind of…glitches out.

“It was _amazing_.” Phichit says.

“How about Georgi’s eyeshadow?” Yuuri remembers that Phichit mentioned it. “Was it as bad as expected?”

“Worse.” Leo says. “Whatever you’re imagining, add three times as much and then smear it a bunch.”

“Ouch.” Yuuri winces.

“Quite right.” Leo says. “He looked like he’d been punched in the nose.”

That makes them all break out into giggles.

“Oh!” Phichit says with a grin once they’ve all managed to stop. “This is something that’ll interest you…Viktor left the ball after only two songs.”

“R-really?” Yuuri manages to keep his voice from breaking. He hasn’t told his friends about the dance that he and Viktor shared. He’s not sure if he wants to. It’s not like he’s keeping it a secret, but there was that moment when it felt like it was just the two of them in the whole world

He wants to keep it for himself, if only for a little while longer.

“It was hilarious, actually.” Phichit says. “Two dances in and Viktor Nikiforov loudly announces that he _needs to go_. He made a bit of a scene, actually, striding out of the hall in those robes of his.”

“I’m pretty sure he cast a charm to make them flap more.” Guang Hong says in an undertone.

“He did not.” Phichit says. “I think cape and hair flapping winds just follow him about all the time in case he needs to make a Dramatic Exit.”

“I still want to know why the Dramatic Exit was even necessary.” Guang Hong says. “Like, he talked to his headmaster about something and then he just got up and left. It was so weird.”

“Well,” Leo says, “He’s a weird dude.”

“Mmmm.” Phichit hums, but he’s looking sidelong at Yuuri with something like suspicion in his eyes.

Yuuri fights back a blush and looks down at his white blankets. “So, erm, Sara was the only champion there, then?”

“Yeah.” Leo says. “She went with that one red-headed girl from Durmstrang, Mila. They both looked so nice.”

“Oh, good.” Yuuri smiles. “She told me she wanted to ask Mila.”

“I don’t think Sara’s brother liked that much.” Leo says. “They got into an argument after the first dance.”

“What about?” Yuuri asks with a frown.

“Dunno.” Leo shrugs. “They were too far away for me to hear. You’d have to ask Sara.”

Yuuri makes a mental note to ask her when he gets out of the hospital wing. She stopped by for about an hour on Boxing day, full of thank yous for the sweets he got her for Christmas and worry for his injuries.

“Still,” Phichit says, “The ball was fun. It would have been more fun if you were there. But still,” He smiles at Yuuri, “Fun.”

“I’m glad.” Yuuri says and really he is.

Leo, Phichit and Gaung Hong stay a bit longer, but it’s reaching dinner time and unlike Yuuri they don’t have house elves delivering them food. The three of them leave together, promising to come back in the morning. Yuuri waves them out before flopping back on his pillows and pressing his palms against his closed eyes.

He’s tired. He’s done nothing but lay in bed for three days and he’s exhausted.

It’s pathetic.

He drifts in and out of sleep for a while, trying not focus on his lingering aches and pains, before a voice cuts through his drowsy fog.

“Oi, moron.”

He opens his eyes and looks over to see Yuri Plietsky standing beside his bed, wearing a dark hoodie that Yuuri is sure isn’t a part of Durmstrang’s uniform and a scowl.

“Yuri?” He blinks, nonplussed. “What are you doing here?”

He doesn’t answer right away, his eyes roving over Yuuri. He’s probably assessing the damage. There’s not a lot left visible. Yuuri’s right arm is still wrapped in a bandage and he’s got some bruising left on his back, but other than that the only problem left is his exhaustion.

“When are you getting out of here?” Yuri demands to know, jamming his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Um, tomorrow I think.” Yuuri says.

“Okay.” Yuri nods. “I’ll meet you in the Great Hall at four the day after that.”

“W-what? _Why_?”

“I promised to show you how to do transfiguration, idiot.” Yuri scoffs. “Did you really forget?”

“N-no I didn’t, I just…”

“The second task is like a month away.” Yuri says. “Unless you want to look like a complete incompetent, we need to start making you suck less.”

Yuuri feels himself pale. He’s right. The task is a month away and Yuuri still hasn’t figured out the clue…Merlin, this is bad. “Four o’clock in two days?” He clarifies, looking at Yuri sidelong.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” Yuri says. “Don’t you dare be late.”

He leaves without waiting for a reply. Yuuri watches him go, feeling a bit like he’s been hit in the face. He’s starting to think that Yuri just has that effect on people.

He sighs and flops back onto his pillows.

It’s a month until the second task.

This is bad.

**~~~~**

At his request, Phichit brings the golden cube and a half-dozen textbooks to the hospital wing the next morning. He brings his own assignments too that he works on while Yuuri puzzles over the cube.

“Hey, do you know the best way to drive off a grindylow?” Phichit asks, tapping his quill idly against his lower lip.

“Fire, I think.” Yuuri says, looking up from the advanced charms book that he’s been pouring through. “Are you working on the defense essay about aquatic creatures?”

“Yeah,” Phichit sighs, “It sucks. Are you done already?”

“Nearly.” Yuuri says, thinking of the half-finished essay he left down in the Slytherin dorm a few days back. “I’ll let you borrow my notes later if you want.”

Phichit beams at him. “You’re the best!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Yuuri looks back down at the charms book, trying to pick up back where he left off. Honestly though, he’s starting to lose hope. The cube just won’t open no matter what he does. “This is _impossible_.”

“Well, try to talk it through.” Phichit says. “Tell me about it. What’s keeping it closed?”

“It’s charms.” Yuuri says, trying and failing to keep the frustration out of his voice. “There’s, like, this web of protective charms keeping it shut.” He taps his wand against the cube and the barrier lights up, looking like a tangled net. “See?”

“Huh.” Phichit leans forward a little bit. “That’s weird.”

“I’ve tried every unlocking charm that I know.” Yuuri says, “And I’ve tried a bunch more that are supposed to take down magical defenses, but…” He waves his wand and the glowing lines vanish, “Nothing.”

“Could you just blast through it?” Phichit seems eager to talk to Yuuri so he has a reason not to do his defense essay. “I mean, your blasting curse back in the first task was pretty strong. You could probably break through with that.”

“I don’t want to break it.” Yuuri says. “And besides, these are complicated charms. I don’t know if that would even work.”

“Could you transfigure it, then?” Phichit tilts his head to the side. “Usually charms are locked to the object they’re cast on, yeah? So if you change it, the charm’ll break.”

“My transfiguration isn’t good enough for that.” Yuuri admits.

“You’re not as bad at it as you think, Yuuri.” Phichit says.

Yuuri clutches his wand, his wand that responds to his belief in himself. “I…I have faith in my charms, Phichit. If I get through this, it’ll be with them.”

“Yuuri…”

“It’s fine.” He says, leveling his wand again. “I just need to think some more.”

He’s preparing to try some more of the complex charms he’s been reading about, but Phichit hits his shoulder all of the sudden and hisses “Yuuri!”

“Ow!” Yuuri rubs the spot. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Look, look!” Phichit waves towards the doorway of the hospital wing. There’s a wizard standing there, peering inside. He’s wearing red robes and has silver hair that catches the light.

“Viktor.” Yuuri says, blank with surprise. He hasn’t seen Viktor since the night they danced together. He assumed he wouldn’t see him again until dueling club started back up.

“Yuuri!” Viktor spots him and smiles, striding over to his bed. Yuuri notes absently that his cloak really does flap rather dramatically when he walks.

“Oh, um, hi.” Yuuri does his best to hide the cube under his blankets, but he knows that Viktor has to have spotted it.

“Hi.” Viktor’s smile is a bit awkward, but genuine. “I…I wanted to check in. If this is a bad time…”

“Nope!” Phichit says before Yuuri can get a word out. “It’s a great time! I was just leaving and Yuuri could use the company!” He starts gathering up his stuff, shoving it hastily into his bag. “I’ll see you later, Yuuri! Viktor!”

“Phichit, wait…” Yuuri protests, but Phichit is already out the door.

Viktor is still standing beside his bed.

Merlin, this is awkward.

“Erm, sorry.” Viktor says with a smile that borders on sheepish. “I can go and get him if you want…”

“No, it’s fine.” Yuuri sighs, slumping into the sheets a bit. One edge of the cube is pressing into his thigh. “I’m sure he’ll be back later.” He looks over at Viktor, just standing there. “You can sit, you know.”

Viktor does, grabbing the chair Phichit was sitting in and pulling it close enough that his knees are touching the edge of Yuuri’s bed.

“So how are you feeling?” Viktor asks.

“Um, better.” Yuuri says. He still hasn’t tried to process what exactly happened between them on Christmas. He didn’t think he’d have to yet. But Viktor is sitting by his bed, looking at Yuuri like he’s something interesting. Yuuri is having trouble meeting his eyes. The wireless that Viktor transfigured is still on his bedside table, though it’s been switched off.

“That’s good.”

There’s a beat of slightly awkward silence. It was easier between them when the lights were low and there was soft music playing as they danced.

“I saw you were working on the second task.” Viktor says, nodding towards the charms books and the awkward lump under Yuuri’s covers.

Yuuri sighs in defeat and pulls out the cube. “Yeah.” He sets it on the bedsheets, gold against white. “Trying to.”

“It’s a tough thing to crack, I’ll give you that.” Viktor says and Yuuri’s mind surges forward to worse case scenarios like it always does, insisting that Viktor is humoring him, that he’s already figure it out, that he figured it out weeks ago…

“I’m not here for the task, Yuuri.”

Oh. Right, then.

“Why are you here, then?”

“I wanted to see if you were okay.”

“Why though?”

Viktor’s cheeks go a bit pink. “I told you already. I like you.”

Yuuri swallows hard. “But what does that _mean_ , Viktor? You…you like me? Why would you say that? Why would you…” He trails off. He can hear his own heartbeat in his ears.  
He’s teetering beside the abyss of his anxiety and he desperately does not want to fall. But Viktor…when he says that, he can’t mean that he likes Yuuri romantically. It just wouldn’t make sense. And as for liking him as a friend, why would he? Yuuri is completely unremarkable, an exercise in disappointment.

“Yuuri.” Viktor grabs his hand. His is warm and a bit larger than Yuuri’s, the fingers longer. “I…I want to be close to you, if you’d let me.”

“Close to me?” Yuuri repeats, feeling rather numb. Surely, he’s misunderstanding. Surely…

“What do you want from me?” Viktor’s voice is low. “What do you want me to be to you, Yuuri? Just tell me and I’ll do my best.”

His fingers, still laced between Yuuri’s, feel too hot suddenly and Yuuri can’t quite figure out why. He pulls his hand away. “I…” He looks up and meets Viktor’s blue eyes. “I don’t…”

Viktor offering to do what Yuuri wants like this…it leaves a bad taste in his mouth even if he can’t exactly articulate why. Words have never been his strong suit. Words are for confident people, people like Phichit and Chris and Viktor. Yuuri prefers speaking with action, with magic. It’s harder to screw up what he wants to say that way.

But right now he needs words and he can’t find them.

“I…” He stops, shakes his head, starts again. “I don’t want you to be anything, Viktor. Just…just be yourself. Just be Viktor.” Yuuri says, voice soft but sure. When he says the words he realizes just how true they are. He just wants Viktor, who smile so wide and buys him dumb kelpie books he doesn't actually need and always seems to want to hear what Yuuri has to say. “That’s what I want.”

He looks up when Viktor is silent for a beat too long. His eyes are wide with something Yuuri can’t name. Surprise is part of it, but there’s something more there. Gratitude? But that’s stupid. What would Viktor be grateful to him for?

“Viktor?” He prompts, hands clammy all of the sudden. Did he say the wrong thing? Is Viktor mad at him now? Is he…

“Yuuri.” Viktor reaches out and pulls Yuuri into a hug. He’s careful, clearly thinking of Yuuri’s lingering aches and pains, but the hug is warm and it makes Yuuri’s heart beat in double time.

“Viktor?”

He hugs Yuuri for a few moments longer and then leans away, his eyes bright.

“Okay.” Viktor says. “I’ll meet you where you are.”

**~~~~**

“If I have to explain this one more time I am going to literally punch you in the face.”

Yuri Pliestsky is half-a-foot shorter than Yuuri and weighs maybe a hundred pounds. But when he glowers, none of that seems to matter. He may be thirteen years old, but his death glare is already something impressive.

They’re on the quidditch pitch, taking advantage of the fact that it’s been empty pretty much all year, and are bundled up in layers of cloaks, scarves and warming charms in an attempt to fend of the cold.

Yuri doesn’t seem to mind the bitter wind and occasional flurry of snow, but Yuuri minds. He minds a lot.

“Try it one more time, idiot.” Yuri huffs, folding his arms. “And don’t suck so bad this time.”

“I’ll t-t-try.” Yuuri says, his teeth chattering. He takes out his wand and points it at the lopsided snowman he and Yuri hastily constructed. “ _Mutatio_.”

When Yuri had demonstrated the spell earlier, the change slid through the snow like a cloud of steam and smoothly transformed the pale snow into dark rock.

Yuuri’s own spell is less smooth, proceeds in shaky, halting steps. It looks like bad stop-motion. But still, the snow starts to shift. It shifts, going grey, and then it collapses into a formless pile.

“What…” Yuuri bends down and touches the pile. It’s hard, rock and not snow, but it’s not like it was supposed to be at all.

“Pebbles.” Yuri kicks them. “I doubt you’ll do any better.” He waves a hand. “Let’s go inside.”

“R-right.” Yuuri is eager to agree. He can barely feel his toes.

Inside, in this case, is the rickety broom-supply shed alongside the pitch. It’s barely big enough for the both of them to sit down on the floor amongst the brooms and loose quaffles, but it’s got a charm keeping it at a toasty temperature despite the cold outside, so Yuuri isn’t complaining.

He closes the door and settles down against it, watching as Yuri picks his way between the brooms and finds a dusty stepstool sitting in the far corner. He grabs it and pulls it over, sitting down opposite Yuuri.

“This place is a dump.” Yuri says, kicking at a ragged-looking broom lying near his feet. “We’d never treat flying equipment like this at Durmstrang.”

“Do you fly?” Yuuri asks, ignoring the casual insulting of his school. If he called Yuri out on every insult, they’d never get anything done.

“A bit.” Yuri shrugs. “You?”

Yuuri shakes his head. “Not if I can help it.”

“Psh, I can see why.” Yuri says. “You’re clumsy enough on the ground.”

“Mmm.” Yuuri doesn’t disagree.

They lapse into silence after that. Outside, the wind has picked up again. It howls, lashing against the side of the shed. Yuuri shivers and pulls his cloak closer.

“How long are you going to keep teaching me for?” Yuuri asks.

“Eh?” Yuri wrinkles his nose. “Until you can win, obviously.”

Yuuri bites his bottom lip, curiosity welling up inside of him. Yuri mentioned it before, that he was only helping Yuuri because he didn’t want Viktor to win. No matter how Yuuri thinks about, it just doesn’t make sense. He has to be missing something.

“You said that Viktor winning would be bad.” Yuuri ventures.

“Yeah. I meant it.” Yuri grunts, his eyes half-closed.

“Can I ask why?” Yuuri asks. He doesn’t want to pry into Viktor’s life, he really doesn’t, but Yuri’s claim just seems too bizarre. Who wouldn’t benefit from untold riches and eternal glory?

Yuri looks at him intently for a minute and then says. “You’re not a pureblood, are you?”

Yuuri blinks, nonplussed by the apparent non sequitur. “Uh, no. I’m not.”

“It’s obvious.” Yuri says dismissively. “And no, I’m not a purist or anything. But if you knew anything about wizarding families, you’d have heard of the Nikiforovs.”

Yuuri frowns. “Are they really that big of a deal?”

“They’re the oldest and most distinguished wizarding family in Russia.” Yuri says. “Like, they were actually royalty for a little bit. People still bow and scrape around them. It’s disgusting.”

“O-oh.” Yuuri blinks, thinking back to the way that Viktor smiled at him when they danced together in the hospital wing. “I didn’t know.”

“I figured.” Yuri says. “Purebloods treat him different than you do.” He glances at Yuuri, something flashing in his eyes. “It’s probably why he likes you so much.”

Yuuri doesn’t know what to say to that, so he changes the subject.

“Are you a pureblood, Yuri?”

“Half-blood.” He answers and his tone is harsh, cutting off any questions about it. “But I’ve known Viktor since I was three years old.”

“That’s a long time.” Yuuri says, because Yuri seems to be waiting for a response.

“Yeah, it is.” Yuri says, his voice edged with something rough and venerable. “And that whole time he’s been doing everything he can to live up to his stupid last name.”

Yuuri doesn’t say anything. His mother’s family is pureblood and fairly influential in Japan, but he’s never met them. From what he understands, they stopped really caring about what his mother did when he didn’t get an invitation to Maktoharuka. They stopped talking to her altogether when she married a muggle. Yuuri knows he has pureblood grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, but he’s never met them. He wonders sometimes if they even know his name.

“But to his parents, he’ll never be good enough.” Yuri says. “It doesn’t matter what he does.”

“But winning the tournament…” Yuuri begins, because surely eternal glory and untold riches are enough for anyone, but Yuuri shakes his head.

“That wouldn’t fix anything.” Yuri say, “His parents are always going to be assholes who are more interested in themselves than their dumb kid.”

“He’s their son, though.” Yuuri says cautiously because that has to mean something. “I’m sure they love him…”

Yuri snorts. “I don’t know if people like them even know how to love.” He looks at Yuuri. “You can’t understand them. Most people would have given up, but Viktor won’t.” he shakes his head. “Fucking moron.”

Yuuri doesn’t say anything, he just sits there in the warmth of the broom shed and he listens.

“He’s spent his entire life trying to make his parents proud of him, but nothing ever worked. Someday he’s gonna realize that nothing will, but he’s not there yet. But if he wins the tournament…” He waves a hand towards the door, towards the school, towards the obligations of the tournament that are waiting. “This is something else. If he does this and they don’t care, then I don’t know what he’ll do. There has to be a limit, there has to be something that would break him.”

“And you think this would?”

Yuri looks at him sidelong, green eyes sharp in the dim light of the shack. “I know that it would.”

**~~~~**

Yuuri sends his parents and sister a letter that night, thanking them for supporting him and letting them know that he’s recovering after his fall. He sent them one right after he was attacked and he knows that Minako did as well, but he thinks that she underplayed how bad his injuries actually were.

If she had been honest it, his parents would have come to the castle regardless of wards or rules. They would never leave him alone if they thought he was hurting. They’ve always been like that, supportive and caring and mindful of his hurts whether they were physical or inside of his mind. He can’t imagine parents who are any different.

He pushes down the pity for Viktor that’s been rising in him since he left Yuri.

But try as he might, he keeps going back to it. He imagines Viktor, small with the same silver hair and blue eyes, wandering around house and grounds that are too big with only a dog for company. He imagines Viktor trying desperately to live up to a name that’s much too big for one person to carry.

Yuuri shakes his head, tries to dispel the images. He shouldn’t have let Yuri tell him all of that. He has so much of Viktor now, so much that Viktor didn’t give him, and he feels it eating at him.

He feels guilty and sick. He wants to apologize, but he doesn’t know how he’s even supposed to start that conversation.

Trying to put it out of mind, Yuuri finishes writing his letter and send it off with one of the school owls, knowing it will be at least two weeks before he gets a reply. The flight to Japan is a long one.

He heads back down to the dungeons, wand in hand in case he needs to cast a disillusionment charm. It’s past lights out by an hour or so and Yuuri would rather avoid a detention if he can. He needs all of his free time to try and crack the cube open.

That’s another thing he’s been trying and failing to put out of mind. He’s been carrying it around in his pocket in case inspiration strikes, but all it feels like is a weight, a reminder of the task digging into the side of his leg.

He tries not to think about the things that the Gryffindor said about him being a terrible champion, but they keep bouncing around his head anyway. Sometimes, lying in the dark in his four-poster bed, he wonders if the Gryffindor was right.

He makes it back to the Slytherin common room without a problem and waves to the students who are still awake. A few of them wave back, but most are focused on books or homework or, in the case of two fourth years sitting by the fire, a game of wizard’s chess. Yuuri considers settling down in one of the empty chairs in the room and looking at the cube, but he doesn’t want the rest of his house knowing how little he actually has done.

So instead he heads up to the dormitory, careful not to wake his yearmates already sleeping inside, and he spells his curtains closed around him. He also casts charms to mute light and noise before lighting up his wand and pulling the cube out of his pocket.

It looks the same as ever; small, golden and firmly closed. Yuuri casts a charm and the net of spells lights up. It’s started to look familiar now, after all of the time he’s spent staring at the interconnected spells. They’re a web, a net, all linked together like a chain-link fence.

He stares at the cube, turning it this way and that. The lit up charms look a bit like the spiderwebs that would gather in the corners of the inn rooms if he and Mari neglected cleaning them for too long.

Yuuri spent hours cleaning spider webs out of corners when he was younger. He remembers how they would cling to his fingers, delicate but sticky. Spider webs…the web together took effort to clean up even if each strand by itself was incredibly fragile.

Could…could the cube’s defenses be like that? He’s been thinking of all the spells as one enchantment that he needs to disarm at once. But if he thinks of them at separate strands…he doesn’t even breathe as he raises his wand, scared of somehow ruining the moment. Could it really be this simple?

“ _Kai_.” He murmurs, his wand hand shaking just a bit.

The single strand that he was focusing on snaps.

Yuuri goes still, half expecting it to link back together or something, but the strand has vanished. Where there used to be a binding, there is now just golden metal.

Yuuri takes a deep breath, trying not to laugh with giddy relief, and moves to the next strand. It takes a bit longer this time, but this one breaks and dissolves just like the first.

This time, he can’t contain his laughter. It’s so, so simple. So stupid. He falls back on his bad, laughing like a total moron, and covers his face with his hands.

Honestly, he hadn’t though he would ever solve it. He had thought that he’d just show up on the day of the second task and fail horribly like everyone expected. But now…if this works, he can put up a fight.

Twelve points. He still hasn’t forgotten the twelve points between him and Viktor.

Yuuri finally manages to hiccup his way out of laughter and he sits back up, looking at the cube. There’s still a net of protections surrounding it, but if he takes them one by one he can get past it.

Okay. He can do this. It’s just charms, simple charms. He grips his wand tightly. He can do this.

The process takes him hours. The same spell doesn’t work for every strand of spellwork and sometimes he has to comb through books to find the right one. The dorm is grey from the weak light of morning filtering down through the icy lake, but Yuuri is still working on the cube.

He can hear his yearmates getting up and getting ready for classes, but Yuuri doesn’t move from his spot kneeling on his bed. He has maybe a dozen strands left to break.

The last few are the hardest. They’re obscure charms, ones that take him hours to identify and neutralize. He almost sets his bed on fire disarming the last one, but finally he figures it out. He swipes his wand with a flourish and it breaks with an audible pop.

Yuuri looks up. The light outside the windows is fading.

Yuuri leans back and pushes his glasses up so he can rub his eyes with a palm. His back aches and his eyes are sore, but the cube is finally free of charms. It’s just a little golden cube sitting on his bed.

He raises his wand, taps it, and whispers, “ _Alohamora_.”

The cube clicks and one side falls open. Yuuri reaches inside with a shaking hand and grabs the only thing inside. He takes it out and looks at it. It’s a piece of parchment, small and folded a few times.

He unfolds it with shaking fingers, heart in his throat. What will it be? He honestly hasn’t tried to guess yet because he was more or less convinced he would never actually get the cube open. But now it’s here, sitting on his bed. He unfolds it with shaking fingers and lays it flat.

He blinks, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing. It’s a list of words, some lines, but…but…

It doesn’t make any sense. None of them fit together. He picks out a few, “Broom,” and “Path,” and “Champion.” But they don’t make sense.

Yuuri covers his face with a hand and falls forward onto the bed, utterly and completely exhausted.

He has the cube open.

But he still has no idea what the second task is.

**~~~~**

“Where were you yesterday?”

“Hm?” Yuuri glances over at Phichit. He’s exhausted. He was barely able to sleep, the nonsensical hints and lines from what he found inside of the cube running through his head.

They’re sitting together before potions, one of the few classes that Hufflepuffs and Slytherins have together. Yuuri doesn’t actually mind potions class. It’s boring, sure, and he’s never had the patience for it, but Phichit is always his partner and he’s seen his mother make enough potions that he knows the basics at least.

“Yesterday.” Phichit repeats. “I didn’t see you at all.” His face is uncharacteristically serious, lips pulled into a frown.

“I was figuring out something for the tournament.” Yuuri says, not meeting Phichit’s eyes. “I got distracted, I guess.”

“Yuuri…” Phichit says. “I know you want to do well, and you will. But you have to take care of yourself, okay?” He leans back a little, examines Yuuri’s face. “Did you even eat yesterday?”

“Oh…” Yuuri blinks. “I guess that I forgot.”

Phichit huffs. “You forgot to eat? You love eating!”

Yuuri looks away and fidgets with some of the ingredients. “I was distracted.”

“Yuuri, why are you picking up those slugs? You don’t even have gloves on.”

“What?” Yuuri looks down and sees that the potions ingredients he was playing with are, in fact, slugs. “Urgh!” He throws his arms in alarm, managing to upend their cauldron and throw a few slugs clear across the room.

Predictably, the class falls into chaos after that.

Yuuri and Phichit’s unfinished potion melts a hole in the stone floor and one of the slugs lands squarely on the professor’s nose. She stares at it for a moment, crosseyed, then she sighs heavily and plucks if off, putting it in her pocket.

“Katsuki. Chulanont.” She says. “What was that?”

“An accident?” Phichit tries.

“Sorry.” Yuuri hides his face his hands and then takes his hands away from his face as fast as he can, remembering the slugs. This is horrible. “I’m so sorry, it was my fault.”

“You both could have been hurt, accident or not.” She scolds, making her way through the classroom and retrieving slugs from off the floor and various students before putting them back in her pocket. “Twenty points from your respective houses.”

The whole classroom hisses in disapproval and Yuuri lets his head fall to the table. His forehead hits it with a loud smack.

The professor casts a charm to vanish the leftover potion and transfigures the floor back into its usual state. “You’ll both receive a zero for today’s assignment and you’ll hand in a twelve-inch essay on why safety is important when preparing potions.”

“Professor, it was _my_ fault…” Yuuri tries, but she cuts him off.

“I don’t care if you are the champion, Katsuki. You’re a fifth year now and you need to be focused on your studies. Understand?”

Yuuri swallows down the shame rising in his throat. “Yes Professor.”

“That goes for you as well, Chualnont.” She says. “Fifth year is important. OWLs are important. You need to be thinking about your future.”

“Yes Professor.” Phichit says, not looking at Yuuri.

It makes him feel sick.

“Now get out of here.” She pats them both on the shoulders. “And Katsuki?”

“Yes Professor?” He cringes, expecting more scolding.

She sighs. “Get some sleep.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that so he doesn’t answer, following Phichit out the dungeon and doing his best to ignore the hissing whispers that follow the pair of them. Merlin, he’s such a moron. How could he be such a moron? He’s supposed to be the Hogwarts champion and he can’t even brew a simple potion. No wonder he hasn’t figured out the second task , no wonder he’s letting everyone down, no wonder that Phichit still won’t look at him…

“Come on.” Phichit says, like he can sense Yuuri’s thoughts. “This way.”

“Oh…okay.” Yuuri follows him, mind and heart skittering as he tries to imagine what his life will be like if Phchit decides he doesn’t want to be friends anymore, if he’s done with Yuuri and all of his probems.

Merlin, he needs sleep. He’s so tired.

Phichit leads the way out of the dungeons and then down the hallway that leads back to the Hufflepuff common room.

“Are we going to your common room?” Yuuri asks tentatively, trying and failing to catch Phichit’s eye.

“No.” Phichit says, still walking purposefully. “We’re going to the kitchens.”

“The kitchens?” Yuuri frowns. “Why?”

“Because a house elf owes me a favor and you need to eat.”

Yuuri stops walking. Phichit takes a few more steps before he notices that Yuuri isn’t following. He turns around, his face pulled into a deeply unhappy expression. Yuuri doesn’t think he’s ever seen Phichit look like that, not even the time on Skype that one of his sisters managed to crack his phone.

“I’m sorry, Phichit.” He says and he feels so, so small.

“I’m not mad, Yuuri.” Phichit sighs and turns away again. “Come on, we need to…”

“You should be mad.” Yuuri’s hands are in fists by his sides. His chest feels tight. “I screwed up our potion, I got us in trouble, I…”

“Yuuri,” Phichit doesn’t turn back around, his shoulders tense. “Come on.”

Yuuri keeps talking, “I keep screwing up at everything and it’s okay if you blame me. You should blame me. Everyone else blames me and no matter wat you say I know you’re mad and…”

“I told you that I'm not mad, Yuuri!” Phichit cuts off his words with a shout, whirling back around, “I’m worried!”

Yuuri recoils. He has never seen Phichit yell, not ever. “I…what?”

“I’m sorry, Yuuri.” Phichit isn’t looking at him. “I know that you can handle this, but I…”

“Phichit.” Yuuri takes a few steps, closes the distance and puts a hand on Phichit’s shoulder.

“I can’t.” He looks up and Yuuri is shocked to see that his eyes are wet. “You’re my best friend and you could have _died_.” He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “I couldn’t take that, Yuuri. I…”

“Phichit…”

“And now you’re working so hard that you’re going to make yourself sick and I…” He shakes his head. “Yuuri, I just want you to _be okay_.”

“I’m sorry.” Yuuri puts his arms around Phichit and hugs him. “I…I didn’t realize you were worried.”

“Of course I’m worried.” Phichit lets out a wet-sounding laugh. “You’re my best friend in the whole world, Yuuri. I always worry about you.”

Finally, Phichit lets go. He wipes his eyes and then punches Yuuri on the shoulder. “Get yourself together, okay?”

“Yeah.” Yuuri says quietly, feeling quietly and horribly guilty about everything he’s done to Phichit in the past few weeks. “Okay.”

“Then come on.” Phichit says, smiling even though his eyes are still red and watery. “I bet I could convince the house elves to make you katsudon.”

“Actually,” Yuuri says slowly, “I think we should have waffles.”

“Yeah?” Phichit says.

Yuuri nods. “Yeah.”

“Yuuri!” Phichit grins. “Let’s go!”

Yuuri spends the day eating more waffles than could possibly be healthy and laughing harder than he has in months, his best friend beside him the entire time. And sure, the task is still looming and he still has a million things to do, but for now he’s happy.

**~~~~**

A week passes and then two. Yuuri spends time with Phichit, Leo and Guang Hong when he can, but their classwork has started to really pick up. Even without the stress of the tournament, Yuuri is spending long hours trying to keep up with his lessons.

But he’s got more to do than just lessons. Yuri is still tutoring him in transfiguration and it’s surprisingly helpful considering the fact that Yuri spends about half of the time insulting Yuuri, Viktor, Hogwarts and the entire country of England.

Yuuri spends hours in the library and shut up in his dorm pouring over the piece of parchment. He tries every charm he knows to detect any hidden writing or clues, but doesn’t find anything. He gets permission from Celestino to go to the restricted section and uses the books there, looking for ways to reveal codes or hidden meanings.

But a week before the second task, Yuuri is forced to admit that the parchment is exactly what is seems like; just a bunch of nonsense words and lines with no meaning.

He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do, who he’s supposed to talk to.

Chris has offered him help a few times that he’s waved down, more out of embarrassment than anything else. He can’t admit that he doesn’t have any idea what the second task is. How could he tell Chris that when he’s depending on Yuuri not to embarrass their school, their house?

Chris is friendly with him, but some things are more important. To a pureblood in Slytherin, surely the reputation of their house is worth more than Yuuri’s feelings.

He’s wandering around the castle, feeling more hopeless and dull, when a hand taps him on the shoulder.

“Huh?” He looks back, expecting Phichit or maybe Yuuko, but instead he finds himself looking into the bright purple eyes of Sara Crispino.

“Hi Yuui!” She squeezes his shoulder and then lets go, smiling brightly all the while.

“Oh, h-hi Sara.” Yuuri smiles miserably. She probably knows all about the second task, she probably has a strategy to win and…

“I haven’t seen you around.” She says, falling into step beside him. “How have you been?”

“Busy with homework.” He says, not meeting her eyes. “You know. Fifth year and everything.”

“Mmmm.” She hums sympathetically. “So, are you busy tonight?”

“Um. Why?” Yuuri asks and he winces when he realizes how rude he sounded.

“Oh, I just wanted to talk to you about something.” She waves a hand. “Do you think you could meet me in the transfiguration classroom after dinner? It’s almost always open!”

He agrees, mostly because he can’t come up with a reason to say no, and waves bemusedly as she wanders away. What could she possibly want? More help with charms, maybe?

Ah, well. Yuuri shakes his head and continues on towards his next class. He’ll find out tonight at any rate. For now he has two more classes to get through and a session of what is sure to be fruitless examination of his cube later.

He doesn’t even know why he’s bothering anymore. He’s not going to figure it out and he’s going to fail the second task. He wonders with morbid curiosity if they’ll still let him be the champion afterwards or if they’ll pick a new one.

Honestly, that Gryffindor didn’t even need to bother with shoving him down the stairs. Yuuri’s always been pretty good at ruining his chances without the help. All the Gryffindor really had to do was to wait a few weeks.

He wipes his eyes with the heel of his hand. Merlin, he’s tired.

But there are classes to attend and homework to do, so he does his best to shake it off and he carries on.

**~~~~**

After dinner, Yuuri does his best to slip away to the transfiguration classroom without anyone noticing. It takes him a while, what with Phichit urging him to eat more and Chris not-so-subtly prodding him for hints about what the next task is, so it’s dark by the time he heads down the corridor towards the transfiguration room.

Like Sara said, it’s hardly ever locked so Yuuri isn’t surprised when it swings open easily. He is surprised, though, when he sees a familiar figure dressed in a maroon cloak just inside the door.

“Viktor.” Yuuri blinks. He hasn’t gotten a chance to really talk to Viktor much lately. they still partner up every dueling club and most lunchtimes Viktor will come over and sit by

Yuuri, but they haven’t been alone together since the hospital.

“Yuuri!” Viktor looks as surprised as Yuuri feels. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“Um, Sara…” He begins and Viktor nods his understanding.

“Ah, yes. She invited me too.” He smiles. “She failed to mention you would be here…it’s a nice surprise, of course. I’m always happy to see you.”

Yuuri feels his cheeks flush, but he rolls his eyes. “Do you talk to all the Hogwarts Champions that way?”

Viktor winks, looking positively delighted that Yuuri is teasing him. “Only the cute ones, if you must know.”

Yuuri bites his lip to keep himself from grinning. Talking to Viktor always feels a bit like drinking his mom’s pepper-up potion on a cold winter day. Suddenly everything dull and gloomy that’s been weighing him down doesn’t seem to matter.

It’s wonderful. It’s addictive. It’s terrifying.

“Yuuri! Viktor!” Both of them towards the door at the sound of their names. Sara is standing there, panting a little like she ran to meet them. “Sorry! I got caught up at dinner…nice to see you both made it.”

“Sure.” Yuuri says, stepping back so she can come properly into the room. “So, um, what did you want to talk about?”

“I thought it was obvious.” She says with a shrug. “The next task, of course.”

“The next task?” Viktor’s eyes darken a bit. “What about it?”

“Both of you opened your treasures from the first task, right?” Sara says, hopping up on the teacher’s desk and perching on the edge.

“Um, I did.” Yuuri says, sitting in one of the desks in the front row.

“Same.” Viktor leans up against the edge of Yuuri’s desk. “Did you?” He raises an eyebrow at Sara.

“Of course.” She grins. “It was a piece of cake.”

“Seriously?” Yuuri mumbles. “It took me forever.”

“How did you open yours, Sara?” Viktor asks. “It took me some time too.”

Sara shrugs. “Simple. I just threw blasting curses at it until it broke open.”

Viktor and Yuuri exchange a glance.

“Well, I guess that’s one way to do it.” Viktor says with a grin.

“I charmed mine.” Yuuri offers. “Took down the defenses.”

“I didn’t bother with that.” Viktor waves a hand. “They were annoyingly thick. I transfigured the outside.”

“Does it matter what we did?” Sara asks. “We all got through.”

“Yeah.” Yuuri says and then they all lapse into silence.

He doesn’t want to tell them that he can’t figure out the clue inside. And even if he did know what it meant, he wouldn’t want to tell them. He likes them and all, but they’re his competitors.

Sara huffs out a breath. “Okay, so. I can’t figure mine out past that.”

Yuuri looks up, eyes going wide.

Beside him, Viktor stiffens.

“If yours are anything like mine, they don’t make a lot of sense.” Sara says. Yuuri hesitates and then nods. After a moment, he sees Viktor do the same. Sara looks relieved.

“Well, I think that what we should do next is clear, then.”

“What are you saying, Sara?” Yuuri asks.

“I’m saying,” Sara looks from Yuuri to Viktor and then back again, “That unless we work together, we’ll never figure out the second task.”

**~~~~**

They end that night without deciding anything, all quiet and consumed with their own thoughts. Before they part ways, Viktor gives Yuuri a hug that seems to linger, but…no. That’s what Yuuri wants. He can’t force those feelings on Viktor.

They separate in the Great Hall, Sara and Viktor both heading out to sleep with their respective schools. Yuuri watches them go, waiting until the door closes behind them before turning and walking down the stairs to the dungeons.

Part of Yuuri wants to wander the school for a while, to go to the owlery or sneak into the library so he has a place to be alone and think for a while. But he promised Phichit he would take better care of himself, so instead he gets changed into his pajamas and slips into bed.

He stares up the dark green hangings, listening to the familiar snores of his housemates. The conversation he had with Sara and Viktor seems to play in his mind on replay. He wants to win. He wants to win so bad and working with them, that feels like giving up, like admitting defeat.

Yuuri rolls onto his side and stares at his nightstand, edges blurred without his glasses. The cube is in there, along with the nonsense scraps of parchment.

There are six days until the first task. Six days and he’s no closer to figuring out the task than he was when he first got the cube down in the caves.

Sara said that they could meet in the same place at the same time tomorrow if they wanted to work together. And Yuuri…he doesn’t want to. He hates relying on other people. He wants to be good enough to work it all out on his own, but…

He sighs and closes his eyes.

He can’t see another option.

**~~~~**

Yuuri heads back to the transfiguration classroom after dinner the next month, doing his best to swallow his pride about the whole thing. He’s not very good at it. That part of him, at least, is very Slytherin.

But this is his best way forward. Working together is the only way he gets through this, the only way any of them get through it. There’s nothing shameful about it…they need his help too.

Still…it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

Sara is already waiting for him, sitting on the teacher’s desk the same as last time. He goes and sits beside her, answering her soft greeting with one of his own.

“I’m glad you came.” She says after a moment or two where they both fidget and don’t look at each other.

“Yeah, well.” He looks sidelong at her and smiles as genuinely as he can. “This is the best option, right?”

“The only one, I think.” She says.

The lapse back into silence, watching the door.

What happens, Yuuri wonders, if Viktor doesn’t come? Do he and Sara work together anyway? He honestly didn’t think about it before. He assumed that Sara and Viktor, agreeable Sara and Viktor, would have no problems working as a team.

But Viktor wants to win, just like Yuuri does. And surely with the expectations his parents have, he doesn’t want to depend on others either…

Yuuri pushes up his glasses and stares down at his shoes.

If Viktor doesn’t come, then Yuuri won’t blame him. He can’t. Yuuri almost didn’t come either.

“Sara, I think…” He starts, but the door swings open before he can tell her he thinks that Viktor isn’t going to come.

“Sorry I’m late.” Viktor says, stepping into the classroom with a sheepish smile. “Lost track of time. You know how it is.”

“Oh, really?” Sara looks doubtful, but doesn’t call him on it.

“So...” Yuuri shifts awkwardly, trying to hide how glad he is to see Viktor there. “How do we do this?”

“Well, do you both have your treasures?” Sara asks. They both nod. “Take them out and get the piece of parchment out.”

Yuuri takes his out and opens it with a muttered “Alohamora.”

Viktor takes his treasure, the golden surface mottled with inky black. “Mines not as pretty anymore.” He says once he sees Yuuri looking at it. “But it broke the spells locking it.” He taps it and it folds open.

“And mine.” Sara takes hers out. It’s a twisted hunk of metal now, the original shape totally changed. She yanks it open with her hands. “There we go.”

“And now the parchment, yes?” Viktor asks and Sara nods. All three of them take out the pieces of paper and lay them out flat on the table.

Honestly, it’s simple. The three pieces fit together almost perfectly and, after a quick charm from Yuuri, it melds together into a single seamless sheet.

“It’s a map.” Yuuri says after a minute.

“And rules.” Viktor adds, pointing at the list on the bottom of the page. All fit together, the random list of words that Yuuri had puzzled over now makes perfectly clear sense.

“As well as a description of the task, I think.” Sara says, pointing. At the top of the three pieces pressed together are three words, all in capital letters:

FLIGHT OR FIGHT

**~~~~**

Yuuri wakes up on the morning of the second task feeling numb. Last night, he got a message from Minako telling him to go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest at nine in the morning. It’s probably seven now, the lake still black outside of the windows.

Yuuri gets up anyway, going down to breakfast and spending a solid hour sitting at the table working on a single waffle.

Phichit stops by the table, wishing him luck and promising to cheer extra loud later. Guang Hong and Leo stop by too, holding hands and both offering their best wishes. Chris slips into the seat next to Yuuri and proceeds to eat a croissant in the most sexual way possible.

Yuuri can’t make himself care about any of it. He just feels…so numb. He has strategies for today, ideas that he hammered out in the library over the past few days, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Nothing seems to matter.

Yuuri walks outside, splitting off from the crowd of students headed towards whatever stands have been constructed to walk towards the edge of the forest. The snow crunches beneath his shoes. It’s cold, but thankfully the winds have abated. The chilly air is, for the moment, still.

Yuuri is dressed in his clothes from the first task along with a black zip-up jacket and gloves. They were sent to his dorm last night along with Headmistress Minako’s note, all the damage from the first task repaired.

“Yuuri!” A familiar voice calls. “Wait up!”

Yuuri glances back to see Viktor waving at him, a smile on his lips. He runs a few steps to catch up with Yuuri. Yuuri’s about to tell him good morning, to ask how he is, but then he slips his hand into Yuuri’s and Yuuri’s breath catches.

The numbness that’s been lingering since he woke up seems to shatter, like thin ice on the surface of a pond.

“M-morning, Viktor.” Yuuri stammers a minute late.

“Ready for today?” Viktor says.

Yuuri laughs, high-pitched and nervous. “Can you ever really be ready for something like this?”

Viktor smiles. “Perhaps not.” He looks sidelong at Yuuri. “But at least now we know the rules.”

“At least we know the rules.” Yuuri agrees.

They walk in silence for a while longer and soon the edge of the forest comes into view.

“What are you thinking?” Viktor asks, his hand still linked with Yuuri’s.

Yuuri swallows. He’s thinking about a lot of things. He’s thinking about the way that his whole house, his whole school, is depending on him. He’s thinking about the homework he still hasn’t done. He’s thinking of the dozens and dozens of feet that will be between himself and the ground in just a few minutes. He’s thinking about how blue Viktor’s eyes are, how silver his hair is, how warm his hand is, how pink his lips are.

He’s thinking, just for a moment, about what it would be like to kiss him.

But he doesn’t say any of that out loud. Instead, he just smirks and says, “I’m thinking about how I’m going to beat you, Nikiforov.”

Viktor grins, leaning back a bit. “Bring it on, Katsuki. I am in the lead, you know. And by a comfortable margin, too.”

“Twelve points isn’t that comfortable.” Yuuri scoffs, in awe of his own daring. 

“Mmmm.” Viktor just smiles. “Try not to be too upset when you watch me win today?”

“I think you’ve got that wrong.” Yuuri says. “You’re not going to be able to take your eyes off me.”

“Oh?” Viktor leans in again, close enough that Yuuri’s breathe catches.

“Mmhmm.” He manages to hum. “Because you’re going to be looking at my back during the whole task.”

Viktor grins even wider, leans in close and drops Yuuri’s hand to tap his nose with a long, pale finger. “We’ll have to see, won’t we?”

Then he flounces off, leaving Yuuri standing there borderline hyperventilating in the snow for a moment before he shakes it off and runs after him.

Yuuri manages to catch him at the treeline. Viktor has stopped and is peering around a tree, looking at something Yuuri can’t see.

“Why are you…” Yuuri begins, but Viktor hushes him and grabs him arm to keep him from rounding the tree.

“Look!” Viktor hisses in his ear and Yuuri is so distracted by that feeling that he doesn’t notice what they’re supposed to be looking at for an embarrassingly long time. “Aren’t they cute?”

It’s Mila and Sara, standing too close and talking in low voices. Sara is dressed like Yuuri and Viktor, clearly ready for the task ahead.

“You’re gonna be great, Sara!” Mila is saying, a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “Remember I’m cheering for you.”

“Mila…” Sara murmurs and then she leans in and…Yuuri really doesn’t think they should be spying on this.

“Um…” He says and he’s about to call out to let Sara know they’re there, but another voice beats them to it.

“Are you two quite finished?” A rough voice growls from behind them and Yuuri jumps with a squeak before turning to see Headmaster Feltsman standing by the girls, a scowl on his face.

“Oh, hi!” Mila’s voice is too high. “Er, Headmaster. What’s up?”

“Mila.” Yakov growls. “Go back to the stands.”

“Gotcha.” She salutes him and presses a quick kiss to Sara’s cheek before dashing off with a parting cry of “Knock ‘em dead, babe!”

“That girl…” Yakov shakes his head. “And are you two quite done as well?”

“What are you talking about?” Sara says with a frown.

“Those two who are spying on you.” Yakov jerks his chin towards the tree that Yuuri and Viktor are hiding behind.

“Oops.” Viktor whispers before sticking his head out from behind the tree. “Hi Yakov, Sara.”

Sara looks unimpressed. “Why were you spying on me?”

“We weren’t spying.” Viktor insists. “We were just giving you two a minute to talk!”

“It was Viktor’s idea.” Yuuri says immediately.

“Yuuri!” Viktor gasps, dramatically betrayed.

“Come here, all of you.” Yakov snaps. “We have a task to start.”

They all walk over to him, Sara rolling her eyes at the both of them. Yakov takes out his wand, tapping what looks like empty air. But then what has to be a disillusionment charm rolls off and what looks like a hot air balloon basket minus the balloon is sitting there.

“Get inside.” Yakov says. “And you’ll be brought up to the task.”

“C’mon.” Sara says. “They can’t start without us.”

Viktor and Yuuri step into the basket after her and once all three of them are settled, the door shuts. Yakov taps it with his wand once more. “Good luck.” He says as it starts to rise slowly towards the treetops.

“So you and Mila…” Viktor says, eyeing Sara.

Her cheeks color a bit, but she smiles. “Let’s get through the task, okay? And then we can gossip about my love life.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” Viktor says, flipping the hair out of his eyes. “I love some good gossip.”

“I noticed that from the way you were spying on me from behind a tree.” Sara says dryly.

“I told you, I wasn’t spying…”

Yuuri isn’t really paying attention to them. He tries to keep his panic at bay and concentrates on his breathing.

The trees around them are bare, covered in snow and ice, but all three of them are hit with a burst of sunlight once they clear the treetops. Yuuri looks up and sees, high above them, a tangled net of bridges, paths, walls and towers extending around them like a spider’s web.

“Merlin…” He breathes, hands tightening on the side of the basket.

“Wow.” Sara adds.

“Damn.” Viktor agrees.

They don’t say anything else as the basket floats the last few feet up and comes to a stop at the edge of a wooden platform about the same size as a classroom. On either side of them are raised stands filled with their schoolmates, all cheering and chanting their names. Ahead of them, the tangle of wooden bridges and towers is splayed out just like the map that they managed to make with their three pieces of parchment put together.

“Welcome to the second task!” Emil is in the announcer’s box again. He’s bundled up in a thick cloak and fuzzy blue mittens. “Let’s hear it for our champions!”

The raised stands begin to roar even louder. Yuuri can see his own cheering section, led by Phichit of course, all of them bundled up in heavy winter clothes. He smiles wanly at them and tries his hardest to just keep breathing.

“I would point out that the best champion here is Sara and she deserved way more applause than that, but that is not my responsibility because she is her own person who can fight her own battles.” Michele says, taking the mic away from Emil for a second.

A few people in the stands clap. A lot more people shift around uncomfortably. Yuuri gives Sara a bewildered look.

“We’ve been talking a lot about independence and boundaries.” Sara hisses, looking pleased and proud. She waves towards the box. Michele waves back. Someone in the stands, probably Mila, whistles at Sara.

“Yes, right.” Emil sounds as confused as everyone else. “Sure. Uh…I think we’re ready to start, then?”

He glances to the box next to them where the three heads of school are sitting. Lilia has a hand over her face, like she’s trying to hide from the stupidity of her students. Minako gives Emil a thumbs up and he continues with more confidence. “Okay! All three champions received clues to give them an idea of what the task was going to be. Let’s see how prepared they are!”

Yuuri breathes in deep and holds it for a moment. He’s practiced his spells, he knows what he needs to do. He can do this. He has to do this.

“Get ready champions!” Emil calls.

All three of them exchange a glance. Sara smiles. Viktor winks. Yuuri tries not to throw up.

“On your marks…”

Yuuri doesn’t look at the crowd, at Sara, at Viktor.

“Get set…”

He keeps his eyes on the path ahead.

“Go!”

He runs across the platform, Sara and Viktor hot on his heels.

“Our champions should already know the rules, but for all of you watching we’ll summarize.” Emil says. “This is a race across the course that you see right here. There are no points for style this time…the only thing that matters is how fast they get to the goal!”

Yuuri takes out his wand and considers casting a spell to find the way, but it would be more or less pointless. This is pretty much the polar opposite of the first task…he knows exactly where he’s supposed to be going. He can see it, a high post topped with a gold flag in the distance.

The only problem now is getting there.

“The champions have to stay on the paths in order to get there!” Michele adds. “Rule one!”

Yuuri glances down at the treetops far below.

“No brooms!”

It’s just as well since he’s rubbish at flying.

Yuuri runs a bit faster. Sara and Viktor are about keeping pace with him, but just ahead he can see the place where the single path splits.

“Rule two!” Emil shouts. “Every champion must pick a path!”

There are seven of them, zigzagging up and down and left and right. The one in the middle is a straight shot, heading straight towards the center wooden doorway. Yuuri wishes that he and Phichit’s time messing around with oculmency during their second year had actually amounted to something. If it had, then Phichit could just tell him what was behind the wall.

But, as it was, they just brewed some potions that definitely didn’t work and gave themselves massive headaches trying and failing to link minds.

Yuuri shakes his head, clearing it. He can’t waste time here.

“Rule three!” Michele is says, “Shorter paths will be guarded by more dangerous enemies!”

Yuuri takes one of the side paths, not the most direct route but not the shortest either. He was up most of last night planning his strategy. Sure, the longer paths will eat up his time, but so will the harder enemies. If he plays it safe, sticks to the middle paths, then he should be able to win.

He has to win.

He runs forward, not bothering to look and see where Sara and Viktor are going. The cheering of the crowd is ringing in his ears, drowning out the creak of the wood and the slap of his sneakers against it.

His path snakes away from the others, down through the trees and out and away from the stands. He’s sure they’re recording it, as always, but soon the audience is lost from view.

He reaches the wall after almost a solid five minutes. It won’t do…next time he’s going to have to speed himself up somehow. He knows a featherfoot charm that will speed him up considerably, but…

“Rule four!” Even away from the crowd, Emil’s voice is loud enough to be heard. “A champion must defeat their enemy behind the wall before moving on to the next leg!”

First he has to get through whatever enemy is waiting for him.

He takes a second to catch his breath, levels his wand and walks through the doorway.

Yuuri is greeted by a blast of fire.

“ _Protego_!” He lifts his wand automatically and just manages to catch the blast with a shield charm. He can still feel the heat of the flames, as they stop and swirl just a few inches from his face. Merlin, they aren’t playing around with this, are they?

When the flames finally die down, Yuuri sees a half-dozen creatures that look like a combination between turtles, crabs and walking treasure chests. Fire crabs. He takes a deep breath, grips his wand tighter and reinforces his shield charm.

They went over fire crabs last year in magical creatures, didn’t they? Yuuri tries desperately to recall what he remembers from lessons. Honestly, the only thing that comes to mind is that fire crabs used to be endangered thanks to people killing them for their excessively shiny shells.

Another of the crabs shoots a gout of fire at him and he takes a step back.

It doesn’t exactly apply here.

“Okay…” Yuuri squares his shoulders. He could just…blow them up. Like, that’s an option. A well-placed confringo or bombarda would clear the path, but…

He looks down at the flimsy-looking, wooden platform.

“And finally, rule five!” Michele’s voice makes him jump a little, shield charm wavering just a bit. “Don’t fall!”  
When he first saw it, he though that rule honestly seemed kind of unnecessary. But now that he’s here, he’s realizing that it’s a lot more likely than he thought. If Yuuri were to just blast the fire crabs out of the way then he’d probably blast the platform out of the way too and he would fall…

He bites his lip. This was on purpose, then. The champions need to get past their obstacles, but they also need to make sure they still have a clear path forward.

Merlin, this is going to be difficult.

Because there are spells he could use to knock them back without wrecking the platform, sure, but to do that he’s have to drop the shield charm. And there’s no spell he knows that would impact all of them at once. And there’s no way he’ll be able to do that without getting burned to a crisp.

Could he…wrap a shield charm around them somehow? He doesn’t have to defeat them outright, he just has to incapacitate them so he can get by. But, no, shield charms can only protect a subject from incoming magic…they don’t stop outgoing magic.

He just needs to…to trap them somehow. To encase them in something like a box or a bubble. A bubble…

Struck with inspiration, Yuuri raises his wand. He has absolutely no idea if what he’s about to try is going to work, but what the hell it’s better than standing here awkwardly with everyone looking at him and judging him.

Once, out of a combination of wanting extra credit and being very bored, Yuuri tried to see if he could make the bubblehead charm completely encircle something. And, like, he _could_ but it also made whatever he trapped float away in a bubble.

Right now he has some things that he would really like to float away.

“ _Baburkai_!” He flicks his wand in a circle.

All six fire crabs are suddenly trapped in a huge, translucent bubble. Yuuri watches, eyes wide, as they bubble full of angry fire crabs lazily starts to float away.

Yuuri doesn’t stop to question his good luck. He just runs, leaving the bubble of fire crabs floating off above the trees. He really hopes someone goes to get them before they fall…that bubble probably won’t last very long…

Oh, well. Fire crabs aren’t endangered anymore. Yuuri doesn’t think they’re endangered anymore. They’re probably not endangered anymore. Probably.

Yuuri runs faster, leaving the fire crabs and the fire part of the task behind him.

“And that makes all three champions through the first leg!” Emil’s voice calls and Yuuri starts in disbelief. Sara and Viktor are already through? Seriously? How fast were they going?

He points his wand at his feet and mumurs, “ _Plumapes_.” He feels the featherfoot charm take hold, making him faster and more agile.

The path in front of him is long and sprawling, a punishment for taking an easier path. It was supposed to be okay, it was supposed to be made up because of how quick he could beat the easier challenges. He had a plan and it was supposed to work…

He shakes his head, trying to focus. He needs to pay attention, he needs to…

Something dark sails past and almost knocks him clean off the pathway.

“And it looks like some obstacles are coming into play here in the second leg!” Michele sounds way too excited about Yuuri almost falling off the bridge. “Let’s see how our champions can handle it!”

Yuuri looks warily around, but doesn’t stop running. He keeps his wand up, though, and that’s the only reason the bludger that flies towards him doesn’t knock him off the bridge entirely. Instead, he manages a nonverbal shield charm and gets knocked off his feet. He ends up lying flat on his back, wind knocked out of him, staring up at the blue sky.

Welp.

This isn’t great.

He sucks in a breath and moves to get up, but the buldger is sailing back towards him on a direct collision course for his face. He raises his wand and, fuck it, it doesn’t matter if he blows this thing up. It’s in the air. It won’t affect his way forward.

“ _C-confringo_!” He manages to cough. The blasting curse strikes the bludger straight-on and it explodes in a plume of black smoke. He blinks at it for a moment, feeling savagely pleased, before focusing again. He’s losing time. He needs to go.

He gets to his feet and renews his featherfoot charm before taking off at a run. Breathing still hurts a bit, but he doesn’t have time to do anything about it. He needs to go.  
Two more bludgers try to knock him down, but he whips more blasting curses at them. He’s not going to fail this task because of a stupid bludger. That would be so dumb.

“And Nikiforov finishes the second leg handily!” Emil shouts just as Yuuri sees the beginning of the second leg, where all the paths meet and then separate again.

“Dammit!” He hissed. Viktor is twelve points ahead of him. He can’t let that lead get any bigger, he won’t. All of the work, getting shoved down the stairs and all of it, that can’t have been for nothing.

He points his wand down, adding as much power as he dares to his featherfoot charm and he barrels down the door directly next to the one in the middle. It’s probably stupid. Merlin, it _is_ stupid, but he can’t afford anything safer.

The path climbs up a ways and then he sees the doorway, hiding something that is probably a lot more dangerous than a few firecrabs. Yuuri hesitates a moment, but then he hears Michele say, “And that’s my sister, Sara, finishing the second leg!”

He barrels through the door, casting a shield charm before he’s even all the way through.

It’s a good move. As soon as he’s through, a massive clawed paw aims a swipe squarely at his head. The shield charm deflects

“Mmm, well that was smart.” A husky woman’s voice purrs and Yuuri’s eyes go wide. “I was getting bored, you know, waiting here.” There’s a creature lounging on the platform that would look like a massive lion expect for the woman’s head perched on top of the neck.

Fuck. A sphinx. A fucking sphinx.

“From the terror in your eyes, I assume you know the rules.” She hums, a feline smile on her face.

“I…” Yuuri swallows. “Yes.” He can’t fight this thing. Sphinxes are more than a half-dozen seasoned wizards can handle. His only chance is to listen to the riddle she gives him and hope that he can answer.

“Lovely.” She crosses her front paws and rests her head on them. “I give you a riddle. If you can answer, I will let you pass. If you get it wrong, I’ll kill you.” Her eyes flash. “Do you understand?”

Yuuri knew that death was always a possibility in this tournament. He’s never had it laid out so plainly in front of him, though. For a moment, his vision blurs and his hearing is lost in a high-pitched whine. He could die here. He could really…

“I...”

If he doesn’t know the answer, he can always walk away. He can walk away and fail, like people expect him to. He can…

“Wait.” He says, looking at her. “So…you’ll only attack if I answer?”

“Those are my terms, yes.” She says. “And, of course, you only get to pass me if you answer.”

“Okay. Right.” Yuuri nods to himself. “Good.”

“So do you want to hear my riddle?”

“Uh…hold on.” There’s an idea taking shape in his mind. It’s probably completely stupid, but it seems better than trying to match wits with a sphinx. Yuuri isn’t a Ravenclaw, smart enough to know the answer, and he isn’t a Gryffindor, brave (or stupid) enough to guess. He’s a Slytherin and that means he’s going to find a third option.

“Is there any other way you would let me past?” He ventures. “Other than answering, I mean.”

“You’re giving up without even hearing my riddle?” She frowns. “That’s not very brave of you.”

“I’ll be honest,” He says, swallowing down some panicked laughter, “I’m less interested in being brave than I am in being alive.”

She purrs and it sounds faintly amused. “What do you propose then, if you are not going to answer my riddle?”

“Er…” This is where his plan gets a bit hazy. He doesn’t remember much about sphinxes, beyond the whole riddle or death thing. But he thinks there was a way that a wizard, a former Hufflepuff, in one his textbooks managed to befriend a sphinx without answering any riddles. He casts his mind back, trying his hardest to remember, and he blurts out, “An exchange!”

Her eyes narrow with interest. “An exchange?” She looks him up and down. “What would someone like you have that I would want?”

Oh crap. Yuuri knows for certain that he has about six sickles and some lint in his pocket and that’s it. Well, that and his wand. His wand. He’s a wizard, isn’t he? It doesn’t matter what he has. He can make anything he needs.

“Give me a second.” Yuuri says, taking out his wand and kneeling down on the wooden platform. This is enough raw materials for what he wants. And, besides, he’s not really even transfiguring it too much. Honestly, he’s just changing the shape.

“You’re lucky I don’t have anything else to do for today.” She yawns. “If I weren’t so bored, I’d just eat you.”

He tries to clear his mind, tries to focus. He can do this. He’s been practiving. He can.

“ _Mutatio_.” He murmurs, dragging his wand in a figure eight. “ _Lingum mutatio_.” He remembers what Yuri told him, to think of a snake eating its own tail, of everything becoming everything else.

And then, where there used to be a plank of wood there is now a thick, blank book. It’s too big for a human, but just the right size for a sphinx.

“Almost done.” He says, flipping the book to the first page and pressing the tip of his wand into the page. “ _Enregi_.”He says and he knows the charm works when the word spells itself out and disappears. This charm is easy, one he perfected in his second year for notetaking purposes. Once the blank book is open, it will record whatever is said into it and keep it forever.

Sphinxes value riddles, words. And this way, the sphinx will be able to carry every word she’s every wanted to remember along with her. That’s the though, anyway.  
Yuuri just hopes it will be enough.

“Here.” He shows it to her.

“A blank book.” She looks unimpressed. “Why would I want that?”

He flips it open. “Here.” He says. “Tell it a riddle, any riddle, and it will record it. Or, if not riddles, then memories. Ideas.” He swallows. “They’ll be here forever, if you want.” He looks away, not able to meet her yellow eyes. This was such a stupid idea, the worst idea he’s ever had, why did he think his clumsy transfiguration was good enough to…

Her face breaks into a toothy smile that is honestly terrifying. “I accept.”

The words _I accept_ ink themselves onto the first page of the book and the sphinx lets out a husky laugh. “Fitting first words, I think.”

“I…yes.” Yuuri sets the offering down carefully before he lets out a hissing breath, relief crashing over him like a wave. He honestly thought she was going to eat him there for a second. He's jittery with relief. He is super about not getting eaten, thanks very much.

“You’re an interesting one.” She laughs, pulling the offering towards her with a huge paw. “Good luck.” She shifts aside and, as carefully as he can, Yuuri steps past. There is a world of difference between a creature like this and a couple of fire crabs.

If this is the second hardest challenge, what could the hardest be like? A dragon? Two dragons? A _whole herd_ of dragons?

Merlin, he needs to get it together.

Thankfully, it only takes a minute or so before he reaches the third leg. There are three altogether if the map was right and that means he only has this one left.

He sees a blast of fire and hears a loud bang from somewhere ahead. Sara and Viktor, both ahead of him. He clenches his fists and stares at the paths in front of him. He could play it safe, hope that he can make up lost time and catch up with the other two, but…

Yuuri wants to win. His whole body is still singing with adrenaline at not being eaten by a sphinx and his hands are shaking, but he still wants this more than he’s ever wanted anything. He wants it so bad that his whole body seems to ache with it. He would do almost anything to achieve it.

And that’s the thing.

Yuuri isn’t doing this for someone else. He’s not doing this for Phichit or his parents or his sister. He’s not doing this for his school or his house. He’s not even doing it for Viktor.

He’s doing it for himself.

So he holds his wand high and, without stopping to think of why he shouldn’t, he barrels down the center path.

“ _Yuuri!”_

_“Wait, no!”_

He hears as the crowd shout, but he doesn’t stop.

He can’t stop, not even for a second. He’s doing this for himself and so he doesn’t stop.

Yuuri runs through the center doorway a moment later, wand clasped tight in his hand. He believe in his magic, his wand. He _believes_.

He crosses the threshold.

There are three figures floating there, barring his way. Yuuri can see black cloaks, hoods with deep shadows gathered under them, reaching arms that are too long to be human. Yuuri’s steps slow and he shudders as the cold feeling in his chest grows more intense. Dementors.

The one in the front raises a hand towards Yuuri and Yuuri’s breath stills in his lungs.

What, really, is the point of all this? What’s the point of winning? What’s the point of even trying? It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.

His arms and legs feel heavy

He can’t do this. He can’t.

But Yuuri has felt this way before. He’s felt this way countless times.

And it never feels like he’ll get through it, but he always does.

He forces himself to breathe again, even if it pricks at the inside of his lungs like shards of glass.

He’s felt this way so many times before. This is every time he’s up at four in the morning, convinced he’s not good enough, not strong enough, not enough period. This is every time he’s miserable and empty and can’t figure out why.

This is not new.

But this time, unlike every time before, it has a source. This time, it has something that he can fight.

Yuuri knows how to cast a patronus charm. He looked it up years ago when someone told him it could ward off unhappiness. He tried for weeks to cast it, but he could never hold on to one happy memory for long enough. Eventually, he gave up and stopped trying.

But he still remembers how it was supposed to go.

He lifts his wand and he tries to come up with a memory strong enough to ward away the drag in his limbs, the tension in his head. He has something.

It’s not one happy memory. Yuuri doesn’t have a single moment like that, a single instant of happiness perfectly crystalized. But he’s got a thousand tiny moments, a thousand unremarkable instances that make his life so very worth living. Folding towels on the back porch with his sister, lazing around on the lakeshore with his best friends, dozing comfortably in the Slytherin common room, eating his mom’s katsudon, laughing with Phichit over a plate of waffles, dancing in a pool of light with the only other person in the whole world.

Maybe it’s not how he’s supposed to do it, but Yuuri holds as many of those images, those feelings, as he can and he takes a deep breath.

“ _Expecto Patronum_!”

A silvery shape bursts from his wand and it takes him a moment to realize what it is. It’s a dog, small with floppy ears and a wagging tail, that gambols across the sky. Yuuri blinks back tears, still so full from the memories he managed to hold onto, as he watches the dog chase back the three dementors. They vanish into the sky, black shapes fading into mist and smoke.

And, like that, the way is clear.

Yuuri flicks his wand, dismissing the silvery dog, before he sets off at a sprint once more. He feels like he’s flying, like nothing could touch him, like he could go forever.  
Another bludger barrels towards him as he pelts across the bridge. He points his wand without looking and shouts, “ _Confringo_!” The bludger explodes in a massive cloud of black smoke and Yuuri keeps running.

There’s the audience roaring and the wind rushing in his ears and the steady thumping of his feet on the wooden planks.

He sees a wooden pole topped with some that gleams. He races forward and puts his hand on it. In the stands, the crowd roars their approval.

“And Yuuri Katsuki finishes first!”

Emil’s voice seems like it’s coming from a long way away. Yuuri blinks, once, twice, three times, and falls to his knees. Did he really just…did he…?”

“Yuuri!” He looks over to see a slightly-scorched Viktor running over the bridge.

Oh...he beat Viktor. He really did.

Yuuri clears his throat and starts to get to his feet, worry spreading through him like ink through water. Will Viktor be disappointed? Mad that he didn’t win? Will he…

Every single thought is knocked out of Yuuri’s head as Viktor runs towards him and doesn’t stop. Two arms go around his neck and the momentum carries them back down to the ground. Yuuri’s back and shoulders hit the ground and he vaguely registers that it hurts, but his head is cradled carefully in Viktor’s hands.

For a moment he sees Viktor’s blue, oh-so-blue eyes and then Viktor’s lips touch his and he could swear that his heart stops.

The kiss isn’t long, just a few seconds, but it’s enough to shift Yuuri’s entire world.

“V-viktor?” Yuuri blinks up at Viktor who’s hovering over him, his cheeks flushed and pink.

“That was the only thing I could think of,” He says and he’s breathless, “That would surprise you more than you’ve surprised me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who else saw that kiss coming from a billion miles away :D 
> 
> (also who else saw this absurd wordcount...this was supposed to be a short chapter please believe me) 
> 
> anyway, we're almost at the end now people! just one chapter left...thanks for sticking with me!


	5. maelstrom

_The Great Hall is full of people._

_Yuuri takes a step back when the door is opened, shocked by the wall of noise that greets him. He and the rest of the first years are ushered in before he has time to run away. He’s still adjusting to the translation charm so the mishmash of different languages that he suddenly seems to understand is giving him a headache._

_He wants to take a step back, find a quiet place to sit and take a few steadying breaths, but the line is still moving. He follows, trying to catch sight of the Thai boy who shared his train compartment in the line ahead of him, but he’s lost to the identical black robes all the first years are wearing._

_He takes a breath and then another. Takes one step and then another. Just do that, over and over again._

_He glances up, noticing the floating candles that Mari had mentioned and, oh wow, the invisible ceiling. It looks like the hall is open to the sky, to the thick belt of stars. It’s a new moon, so they’re the only light. Still, they seem almost unnaturally bright._

_He’s so focused on that, he almost runs straight into the girl in front of him when the line finally stops. He bites back an apology and looks around._

_They’re in very front of the hall now, looking out at the assembled students._

_There are four separate tables, all full of different groups of students. One is in gold and red, one is in blue and bronze, once is in yellow and black and one is in green and silver. He knows his sister is out there somewhere, as are Nishigori and Yuuko. But he can’t see them…they’re lost in the sea of black robes._

_The headmistress, a tall Japanese woman with dark robes, gets up from the head table and greets the assembled students. Yuuri doesn’t pay much attention to what she’s saying. Mari explained the sorting to him a few days ago, knowing that it would help him to know what was coming._

_He doesn’t want to do it, doesn’t want to sit at the front of the hall with all of the other students and all of the teachers staring at him. But refusing to do it, he thinks, would cause them to stare at him even more. So he doesn’t protest or run away when she stops talking and looks at the row of them expectantly._

_He shuffles forward with the rest of the first years, forming into a line, and he watches as the headmistress pulls out a scroll. She starts calling names and, one by one, the students walk to the stool in front of the room and put the hat on their heads._

_Yuuri bounces on the balls of his feet and watches as the boy he sat with on the train is made a Hufflepuff. Yuuri claps his numb hands as he hurries away to join the black-and-yellow-clad students._

_They’re a friendly-looking bunch, all smiling and clapping as their new members join. Yuuri’s mother was a Hufflepuff. He’ll probably be a Hufflepuff too. He takes a deep breath. He’s fine. It’s going to be fine._

_The line is getting shorter and soon Yuuri is standing at the front. He looks for his sister, but he still can’t see her._

_“Yuuri Katsuki!” The teacher calls, his family name second instead of first like it usually is. He wrinkles his nose, the order sounding wrong, before he takes a few stumbling steps towards the stool. He can feel every eye on him as he sits on the stool and places the hat on his head. It’s far too big, slipping down over his eyes so he can’t see the mass of students watching him._

_The hat is heavy and warm with a musty smell, kind of like mothballs. The darkness beneath it is absolute._

Well, hello _. A tiny voice sounds in his ear._

_“What?” He jumps and then whispers. “Is that...is that you? Uh, hat?”_

_The hat lets out a wheezy-sounding giggle._ Oh, you are interesting, aren’t you...a nice challenge for me...hmmm…

_“Um…” Yuuri closes his eyes and focuses on the voice._

You’re bright! _The hat sounds approving, if magical talking headwear can be approving,_ And you want to succeed, to improve yourself...oh you want very much, don’t you?

_“Um,” He says as softly as he can, “I’m supposed to go in Hufflepuff.” His mother and his sister have both told him that he’ll go to Hufflepuff. It’s the perfect place for him, they’ve both said._

Is that what you really want? _The hat murmurs in his ear._ To just go where you think you’ll be safe? From what I can see, you want more.

_Yuuri grips the sides of the stool hard, his knuckles going white. “I…”_

It’s okay, _the hat tells him,_ to want that _. I_ t’s okay to go off of the expected path, Yuuri Katsuki.

_“It is?” He whispers, keeping his eyes shut._

Of course it is, _the hat says._ In fact, some of the best people do.

_“Okay then.” Yuuri nods once, hat slipping even further over his eyes. “Okay.”_

_“Well, then.” The hat speaks aloud now and Yuuri’s shoulders tense. “Better be...Slytherin!”_

_Yuuri’s eyes fly open._ What _?_

**~~~~**

“Yuuri?”

“Ah…” Yuuri blinks his eyes open. He had been dozing in a chair in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room, mind humming with old memories. “Mmmm?”

“Oh, my. Were you having scandalous dreams, Yuuri? About me, perhaps?”

Chris is standing in front of his chair, a cheeky grin on his face.

“No!” Yuuri insists, straightening up. “I was just…” He shakes his head and rubs his eyes. “Merlin, what time is it?”

“Just before dinner.” Chris says, still looking down at him. “If it wasn’t me you were dreaming about, what was it? You were mumbling a bit in your sleep.”

“It was nothing.” Yuuri waves a hand. “Just old memories is all.”

Yuuri rubs his eyes once more, trying to get rid of the last fragments of the dream still lingering. He hasn’t thought of his sorting it years. It had been terrifying, the sorting itself and the hours afterwards when he followed a mass of older students down into the depths of the castle and into a common room that seemed uninviting and cold. Even then, though, he loved the sigh of the clear, dark water outside of the window that seemed to go one forever.

“Mmmm.” Chris looks doubtful, but doesn’t press. “Well, if you’re done with that, I need to talk with you.”

“What about?” Yuuri says warily. “It’s been two days since the second task ended and I…”

“Oh, no.” Chris settles in the chair across from him. “But, my congratulations on that, of course. Your performance was absolutely delectable.” He adds a little purr on the last word that makes a few underclassman look over. All of the older students are too used to Chris to move.

Yuuri sighs. “Chris, could you just…could you just not?”

He looks imperiously down at his flawless nails. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Yuuri gives up. “Sure, fine.” He sighs. “But if it’s not about the task, though, what is it?”

“Viktor, of course.” Chris says, looking up from his nails.

“V-viktor?” Yuuri gulps.

“Mmmhmm.” Chris says. “My good friend Viktor Nikiforov. You know him, I think. He was the one you smooched dramatically after your very delectable performance.”

“He kissed me!” Yuuri squeaks, feeling his face get hot with embarrassment.

“From what I saw, you were a very willing participant.” Chris leers at him.

“Well, that’s…” He can’t really argue that so he doesn’t. “What about him?”

Chris snickers. “Straight to the point, hmmm? Don’t you want to savor our time together, Yuuuuuri?” Yuuri just stares at him flatly. Chris snickers and then leans forward. “Very well, then. Viktor and I, we’re friends.”

“I know.” Yuuri says, a bit confused. Yuuri’s known that they were friends for a while now. Why is Chris stating the obvious?

“Viktor is a Nikiforov.” Chris looks at him through hooded eyes. “You know that, yes?”

“I…yes.” Yuuri blinks.

“And do you know who exactly the Nikiforovs are?”

Yuuri fidgets, suddenly very aware of his status as a half-blood. He didn’t think Chris was a purist, but he’s been wrong about people before. What if Chris doesn’t think he deserves Viktor, who is apparently the only son of a pureblood family? Chris is a Slytherin, after all, one from a very old family with quite a lot of money and power.

“An important wizarding family in Russia.” Yuuri answers cautiously, not look Chris directly in the eye.

“The most important.” Chris corrects. “But, basically, yes. Do you know anything more specific? About his parents in particular, not just their family name.”

“I…” Yuuri hesitates, remembering what Yuri told him out on the Quidditch Pitch.

“If you two are going to try and be together, then you should know that his parents won’t make it easy.” Chris says. “They treat Viktor like a possession more than anything else, and the Nikiforovs, well,” His eyes flash, “They’ve always been rather greedy with their possessions.”

Yuuri’s eyes flick to meet his. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that they have plans for Viktor’s future.” Chris says plainly. “Plans that don’t involve you.”

“And you think that Viktor will want…” Yuuri clenches his fists and tries to keep from shrinking back. This is something important. He’s not going to back down.

Chris holds his gaze. “I think that Viktor will fight, for you and against his parents.” Yuuri’s stomach swoops with an uncomfortably combination of desire and guilt. “I need to know now if that fight will be worth it for him.”

“If you think we shouldn’t be together than just say it.” Yuuri’s voice comes out sharp and snappish. It makes him wince.

Chris, though, doesn’t seem to be bothered. “That isn’t what I meant. I think he’s good for you and that you’re good for him. And I think in time almost everyone else will see that too. But…” He glances around, making sure no one is listening in. “Getting there won’t be easy. If you’re not up to it…”

“Chris…”

“All I’m saying is that Viktor has had enough people let him down.” Chris leans back in his chair a bit. “If you’re going to be one of them, then you should quit now instead of later.”

Yuuri feels a stab of offense at the words. “Do you really think I would let him down?”

Chris blinks in surprise. “You play things close to the chest, Yuuri. It’s often hard to tell if something is truly important to you.”

“He is.” Yuuri says quietly. “Viktor…he’s important.” He thinks of bright smiles, of blue eyes, of a kelpie book he’s skimmed through that’s sitting on his nightstand. He repeats, voice stronger. “He’s important to me.”

Chris smiles, seriousness abruptly gone. “I see.”

Yuuri can feel his cheeks heating. He doesn’t like talking about his feelings like this, it makes him feel entirely too exposed. “Will it really be that difficult, do you think?” He asks, looking down and away. He’s willing to deal with quite a lot to keep Viktor, but he wants to be prepared.

“Don’t worry, Yuuri. You’ll be just fine.” Chris says kindly. He reaches out and pats Yuuri on the knee. “You’re a member of my house, after all.”

Yuuri lets out a huff of laughter. “Thanks, Chris.”

Chris grins and says with a wink, “You can count on me anytime, Yuuri darling.”

**~~~~**

Chris’s words are still on Yuuri’s mind when he heads to bed that night.

He can’t imagine parents who didn’t support him and love him unconditionally because he’s always had that. He’s sure that if he went to them today and told them he wanted to quit magic to become a professional figure skater they would just pat him on the head and tell him to do whatever makes him happy.

He’s never had a simple life, not with his magic and with the parts of his brain that sometimes seem to actively work against him, but he’s always had love in it.

He wants to go to Viktor and hug him, let him know it’s okay, that people care about him even if his parents don’t. But things are still kind of weird between them. It’s been two days since the task and they still haven’t really talked about Yuuri winning or the kiss or any of it. Viktor smiles at him in the hallways and at dueling club, but Yuuri can’t help but think that Viktor is avoiding him.

He settles down to sleep, vowing to deal with that whole situation tomorrow. Sleep comes easier than usual. He’s worn out from all the OWL studying he’s had to do.

It seems like just a moment after his head hit the pillow that something is poking hard into his cheek. He groans and swipes at it, but it keeps up even harder.

“Yuuri!” Someone whispers urgently. “Wake up!”

“Wha…” He tries to push them away and rolls onto his stomach. “Nnngh…”

“Yuuri!” The voice is insistent and the poking keeps on going.

He opens one eye, ready to throw down, and then scrambles up into a sitting position when he sees silver hair and icy eyes.

“V-viktor!” He stammers before covering his mouth with his hands.

“Hi!” Viktor beams at him. “Sorry, were you sleeping?”

“Of course I was sleeping!” Yuuri says. “That’s what people do at night!”

“Well,” Viktor smirks at him. “It’s not the only thing people do at night.”

“Viktor!” He hisses, trying to ignore the blush he can feel staining his cheeks.

“Sorry, sorry.” Viktor leans in a little. “I have a surprise for you, though. Would you mind coming with me?”

His eyes are very blue, even in the low light. “I…”

“Just for a few minutes?”

“I…yes. Okay.” Yuuri runs a hand through his hair. “Go down to the common room. I’ll change and then meet you, okay?”

“Okay!” Viktor says and backs away.

“Wait.” Yuuri sits up.

“Hmmm?” Vitro glances back.

“How did you even get in here?” Yuuri asks. “You don’t know our password.”

Viktor grins. “Chris gave it to me, of course.”

Yuuri flops back on his bed. “Of course.”

“Hurry and get changed.” Viktor says before turning away. “We’re going outside so dress warmly.”

Yuuri frowns suspiciously, but does so. He puts on his cloak, hat and gloves after his usual robe and winds a scarf around his neck. He glances at himself in the glass by the door before he heads down and winces. The dark circles under his eyes are deep today and his cheeks look extra chubby. Merlin, he looks like a sleep-deprived chipmunk.

He sighs and continues on. There’s not much he can do about it now.

“Where exactly are we going?” Yuuri asks once he makes his way down the stairs.

“Yuuri!” Viktor beams. “You look so cute! Now come on, let’s go!”

Yuuri lets Viktor grab his arm and lead him down to the Entrance Hall. Once they slip outside, thought, he puts his hands over Yuuri’s eyes and leads him on. The snow beneath his feet crunches loudly and he doesn’t particularly like not being able to see where he’s going, but he lets Viktor lead.

“Are we there yet?”

“Just a minute! And…Tada!” Victor drops his hands and Yuuri blinks a few times. His glasses are foggy, so he slides them off and puts them in his pocket.

The world slowly comes into (admittedly blurry) focus. They’re outside, just like Yuuri thought, standing in front of the lake.

Victor tsks when he sees that Yuuri has taken off his glasses. “You need to see properly!”

“My glasses fog up outside.” Yuuri explains. “I can see well enough and…”

“Here,” Victor takes out his wand and levels it at Yuuri’s eyes. “Can I?” He asks courteously and Yuuri nods. He makes a few smooth movement with his wand and murmurs, “Melioculus.”

Everything swims for a second and then grows clear. “Thanks.” The charm is a common and useful one, but it wears off after an hour or so, making it too tedious for daily use. He blinks and the world comes into perfect focus. “Uh…” He looks over at Viktor. “We’re by the lake?”

It spills out in front of them like a dark stain in between the snowy hills. It’s still covered in a thick, opaque sheet of ice. Yuuri blinks, nonplussed.

“Um, Viktor…” He glances back at the boy still standing behind him. “Why are we here?”

“Oh, right!” Yuuri’s probably imagining it, but he thinks that Viktor looks almost embarrassed. “I was hoping that we could ice skate! On the lake, I mean.”

“Neither of us have skates, though.” Yuuri points out.

“Here!” Victor grins at him. “I made up a spell for this, let me show you!” He points his wand at his shoes and says something that Yuuri doesn’t understand.

“What was that?” Yuuri asks curiously. He didn’t recognize the incantation and the wand movement isn’t something he’s familiar with either. It could be an upper level transfiguration spell, but those usually build off of the same base and…

“I told you,” Victor says, twisting his foot around to look at the thin translucent blade from every angle. “I invented it!” He smiles cheekily at Yuuri.

“Huh.” Yuuri squats down to examine Victor’s makeshift ice skates. “I’ve never invented a spell. Modified a few, but never invented.”

“What about that bubble spell you used in the second task?” Viktor asks. “I’ve never seen that one before.”

“Oh, it was a modified bubble head charm, actually.” Yuuri reaches out and taps the blade. It’s hard and slick, like a metal blade. “I just completely encased the target instead of just the head.”

“I didn’t know that could be done.”

He looks up at Viktor. “Ha, I was bored in charms once and I wanted to see if I could do it.” He straightens up. “The floating bit was just a side effect.”

“Huh, weird.” Viktor looks thoughtful. “I wonder if there’s a limit to how big you could make it…”

“I never really experimented with it.” Yuuri admits. “I should, sometime. It might be useful.”

“Yes, you should…wait!” Viktor holds up a hand and Yuuri freezes.

“What?”

“I was trying to impress you with my thoughtful gesture, not have a debate about spell creation with you!” Victor pouts.

“I-impress me?” Yuuri blinks. “Why?”

Victor ignores the question and points his wand at Yuuri’s shoes before speaking the same spell. Ice loops around his boots and suddenly they’re as bladed as his skates.

“Wow.” Yuuri murmurs.

“It should reinforce the ice, I think.” Victor says musingly, looking out over the lake now. “The last few days have been a bit warmer.”

“Couldn’t hurt.” Yuuri agrees and, before Viktor can move, he raises his own wand. He knows this spell. His mother used to use it on the pond in the back garden so he could

skate even when all the other ice had melted. “ _Frigalta_!”

With a heavy-sounding crack, the ice for forty feet or so seems to grow more opaque. Yuuri grins at Viktor. “Should be sturdy enough now.”

Viktor smiles. “You just know every charm there is, don’t you?”

“I…” Yuuri looks away. “That was just a coincidence.”

“Still.” Viktor says, reaching out to grab his hand. “That was amazing. You’re amazing.”

“Viktor…” Yuuri mumbles.

“Come on.” Viktor starts to pull him towards the ice, steps unsteady thanks to the blades in the bottom of his boots. “Let’s go!”

Yuuri, after a moment’s hesitation, allows himself to be pulled out onto the ice.

Viktor falls as soon as he steps onto the ice. Yuuri can’t help it. He almost falls to his knees with how hard he laughs at the sight of Viktor flat on the ice, blinking in surprise.

“I’m sorry!” He hiccups. “I’m sorry, you just look…”

“I’ve never been ice skating before!” Viktor pouts. “I didn’t know it was going to be so slippery!”

“It’s okay.” Yuuri manages to get his laughter down to just a grin. “I’ll help you. Here.” He extends a hand. After a moment, Viktor takes it and gets to his feet.

“You won’t let me fall?” Viktor asks, looking at Yuuri from under his long lashes. Merlin, Yuuri isn’t sure if he can bear this.

“I promise.” Yuuri says. “Follow me.” He keeps his hands in Viktor’s and leads them both slowly across the ice. Even though Viktor quickly leans to keep his balance, he keeps a tight grip on Yuuri’s hands.

The spin together in slow circles, the night around them cold and clear.

“I wish the ice was clearer.” Viktor sighs after a while, glancing down at the ice below their feet. “I wanted to see the mermaids!”

“Hold on.” Yuuri murmurs and drops one of Viktor’s hands to take out his wand. “I can’t make it clearer, but…” He points it at the ice under them, makes a short jabbing motion with his wand and murmurs a familiar spell. The ice shudders a bit and then a ripple goes over it, pushing back snow and leaving a clean, polished surface behind.

It reflects the starry sky above, bright stars clearly visible beneath their feet.

“What spell was that?” Victor is wide-eyed and still, staring at the dark mirror below them.

Yuuri shrugs. “Just a polishing spell.” He feels hot and strange with Victor looking like that, expression caught somewhere between confusion and amazement. “We use it at home all the time to clean things…”

“Yuuri!” Victor looks up from the ice and beams, throwing his arms around Yuuri and squeezing him tight. “You’re brilliant!”

“V-viktor…” The keep hugging, spinning in slow circles as they do.

“So, um.” Viktor leans back a little so their eyes could meet. “I had a reason for bringing you out here tonight.”

“I figured.” Yuuri blinks. “What with the spell and everything. We couldn’t skate inside.”

“No, I mean…” Viktor huffs out a sigh, like Yuuri is being ridiculous somehow. “I wanted to ask you something. And I know it might be silly, but I still feel like I need to ask.”

“Okay?” Yuuri has literally no idea what he’s talking about.  
“Could you…I mean,” Viktor looks less than sure of himself that that throws Yuuri for a bit of a loop. Viktor is usually so in control of himself. “I was wondering if you would be my boyfriend. I know we kissed after the second task and everything, but I still thought I should ask.” His eyes are wide and earnest. “Only if you want to though, of course!”

“I…” Yuuri feels like his heart might explode from the amount of happiness that is squished into it right now. There’s terror there too, of course, and disbelief. But mostly, he’s happy. “Of course, Viktor.”

“Yuuri!” Viktor surges forward and tries to kiss Yuuri, but he overbalances and almost tips forward onto the ice.

“Easy!” Yuuri scrambles to grab his shoulder and keep him upright.

“My hero.” Viktor says with a grin.

Yuuri laughs and pulls him close to kiss his cheek. But Viktor turns his head at the last second and catches his lips against Yuuri’s. And it’s good. It’s really good.

“Okay!” Viktor breaks away and pushes back, stepping from Yuuri’s hold. His cheeks are flushes and the tip of his nose is pink. He makes Yuuri’s chest ache a little bit. “Come and catch me!”

“Viktor!” Yuuri splutters, but Viktor turns and skates away with a speed that is impressive with how sloppy his form is.

With stars above and stars below, Viktor skates dizzyingly fast over the smooth, glassy ice and Yuuri chases after him, panting and exhilarated. It’s amazing. It’s breathtaking.

It feels like magic.

**~~~~**

It comes as a surprise, but Yuuri gets a couple more shovel talks over the next week. He really should have expected it after the one with Chris. But he’s woefully unprepared when Mila tracks him down after one of his Care of Magical Creatures classes and literally drags into the forest to inform him that she’d break his knees if he broke Viktor’s heart.

As soon as she was done (and he finished panicking) Yuuri tracked down all of his friends and begged them not to do the same thing with Viktor. They all agreed at the time, but from the new wariness that Viktor is showing around Phichit, Yuuri is pretty sure that they were lying.

It’s stupid. The idea of Viktor being the one to mess up their relationship is laughable. He’s probably been in dozens of them back when he was at Durmstrang. But for Yuuri, Viktor is the first. The first one to kiss him, the first one to hold his hand when they eat breakfast together, the first one to walk him to classes, the first one tap his ankle with an impatient foot when they study together in the library.

Their relationship happens like that, in the slivers of time they can steal between classes and study session and transfiguration practices with Yuri. Yuuri constantly wants to apologize because their limited time is his fault. He’s the one drowning in homework and practice for his upcoming OWLs.

Viktor never blames him, though. He just laughs and hugs Yuuri or, if they’re alone, kisses him soundly. It’s too perfect, he’s too perfect.

Yuuri would probably be more worried, but he doesn’t even have time to worry lately. He can’t screw up his relationship with Viktor because studying for the OWLS is rapidly consuming his whole life.

“I don’t get this!” Leo moans, dropping his head onto an open textbook with an audible thump. Leo, Phichit and Yuuri are all sitting together in the library, forced to sit at one of the awful spindly tables in the corner because the fifth-year Ravenclaws have already managed to commandeer all of the good tables.

“This is so not fair.” Phichit says, eyeing a nearby group of Ravenclaws. “They’ve been there all day! They have to be done by now.”

Yuuri just flips a page of his textbook with a sigh. He’s reading about the Goblin Rebellions. He never though that something that involved so many beheadings could be so terribly dry.

“I’m going to fail everything.” Leo says softly, eyes closed and face slack. “I’ve accepted that now.”

“I think I’m going to go over there.” Phichit says. “Maybe if I just ask them…”

Yuuri flips another page. There’s a moving illustration depicting the death of Lord Bagroth the Wizardkiller in disgusting detail. Ergh.

“It’s fine.” Leo sighs, not moving from his book or opening his eyes. “I’ll just becoming a trophy husband. Gaung Hong can support me.”

“That’s it.” Phichit is getting to his feet. “I’m going to go ask them if they’ll share the table.”

Yuuri looks up from the (horrifically detailed) Battle of a Thousand Beheadings and registers what Phichit is saying. “Wait what?”

He can only watch in mute horror as Phichit goes over to bother a table of stressed out Ravenclaws with their heads buried in books. It goes more or less how he expects. In the end, they get kicked out of the library for fighting and receive a two week ban.

“I’m sorry.” Phichit says as they unceremoniously gather their stuff and are more or less booted into the hall.

“It’s not a big deal.” Yuuri sighs, slumping against the wall as soon as they’re out of the library. He’s got most of the stuff he needs for studying in his bag. He can go back to the common room and camp out there for the rest of the evening.

“Whatever.” Leo hangs his head and leans next to him. “We’re all going to fail anyway.”

Yuuri nods in gloomy agreement. “Maybe I’ll just die in the third task. That was I won’t have to worry about the OWLs.”

“Yuuri!” Phichit shoves him. “No! No dying talk!”

Yuuri looks at him sidelong. His usually neat hair is in disarry from all the times he’s dragged his hands through it. “I was joking. Mostly.”

“Yuuri!” Phichit whines.

“At least this one isn’t one you have to prepare for beforehand.” Leo says. “Frees up your time a bit.”

Yuuri shrugs. “I’ve been going over my general spellwork as much as I can. Attack and defense basics, that kind of thing.”

“You’ll be brilliant, regardless.” Phichit says loyally.

“You are first going in.” Leo adds. “That’s kinda amazing.”

“I still can’t believe it’s real.” Yuuri murmurs. He sometimes thinks that he somehow got knocked into some kind of coma when that Gryffindor pushed him down the stairs and everything that happened afterwards, dancing with Viktor and winning the second task and that kiss, all might have been a dream.

“You deserved it, though.” Leo says hurriedly, like he’s worried he might have offended Yuuri. “You won that task fair and square.”

“Viktor’s heart too.” Phichit teases.

Yuuri feels his cheeks heat, but he smiles. “I don’t know about winning his heart…”

“You got a part of it, at the very least.” Phichit says, knocking against Yuuri with a shoulder.

Yuuri keeps smiling and doesn’t answer. He hasn’t seen Viktor all day. There’s studying he needs to be doing and a task he needs to be preparing for and he should probably write his sister to let her know what’s happening, but…well. He hasn’t seen Viktor all day.

He kicks off from the wall. “I’ll see you both later.” He says decisively.

“Where are you going?” Leo asks. “Dinner?”

Yuuri shakes his head and doesn’t answer.

Phichit’s knowing laugh follows him down the hall.

**~~~~**

It’s not hard to track Viktor down. He’s a rather noticeable person.

He only has to ask two different red-robed Durmstrang students before he finds out the Viktor is onboard their ship practicing something.

Knowing that and actually doing something about it, though, are two very different things.

Yuuri’s never been on the Durmstrang ship before, despite invitations from Viktor, Mila and Georgi. It just seems too personal somehow. It’s weird to think that about someone who he regularly kisses in the empty transfiguration classroom after dinner, but Yuuri can’t really help it.

Still, he goes down to the dorms and fetches his cloak and gloves before heading out into the cold and to the intimidating dark shape floating on the edge of the black lake.

Yuuri’s eyes catch of the surface and he wonders idly if he could somehow see the Slytherin dorm room from the surface.

But he’s not here for that. He shakes his head and awkwardly make his way up the gangplank. He half expects to be stopped, but no one comes.

He makes his way across the deck and stands before the cabin doors for a full minute before getting up the courage to knock.

After a few moments, there’s a worryingly angry rumble and the door slides open a crack. Headmaster Yakov’s frown and a single bloodshot eye greet him through it. Yuuri tenses.

“What?” He growls.

“Erm, I…I was here to see Viktor?” He doesn’t mean to say it like a question, but it comes out that way anyway.

Yakov grumbles, but leans back from the door and shouts, “VITYA!” into the depths of the ship.

Yuuri jumps a little, but stays standing awkwardly in the doorway until a familiar figure dressed in maroon robes rounds the corner.

“Yuuri!” He sounds delighted and pushes Yakov out of the way to sweep Yuuri into a hug. It’s warm and familiar and his robes smell like the ozone crackle of a particularly good spell. It all makes Yuuri so happy that he doesn’t notice the bandages all over Viktor’s left hand and arm until they part.

“Viktor!” He goes to grab the arm and them thinks better of it, stopping his hands hover above the covered skin. “W-what happened?”

“Oh, this?” Viktor frowns. “Don’t worry! Just a little accident when I was practicing artificing, nothing to worry about!”

“But it’s all bandaged…” Yuuri begins, but Yakov cuts him off before he can demand to know what exactly happened.

“Either come inside, Katsuki, or go out, Vitya.” He rumbles. “You’re letting all the warmth out.”

“Right.” Viktor grabs Yuuri’s hand. “Do you want to see my room?”

The thought makes Yuuri choke a little, but he nods. Viktor has seem his dorm, after all. It’s only fair. He steps into the ship and the dorm shuts behind him. The ship is warmer than Yuuri expected and homier too. The hallways in front of him has pictures and tapestries on the wall. Most of them, perhaps predictably, are in shades of red.

“This way!” Viktor starts to drag Yuuri down the hall, so fast that he doesn’t really have time to look around.

“Keep it PG!” Yakov shouts after them. “I’ll know if you don’t!”

Yuuri feels his cheeks go hot, but Viktor just laughs, his steps slowing a little. “That’s a moodkiller, huh?”

“Just a bit.” Yuuri admits. They haven’t done more than just kissing anyway and, honestly, he’s good if they stay that way for a while yet. He knows he’s young and that Viktor’s young too. And, for now, he’s good like they are. He’s not looking to rush anything. This, him and Viktor, is too important to rush.

They’re walking side-by-side now, through halls that all seem to be rocking up and down just a bit. Viktor just shrugs when Yuuri mentions it. “You get used to it, I guess. Most of the rooms have gyroscope charms, though, so they stay level.”

“Gyroscope charms?” Yuuri asks, curious. He makes a note to look them up later.

“Based off some muggle thing.” Viktor says. “I don’t know much else. Unlike you, I’m not an expert on weird charms.”

Yuuri bites back a pleased smile. “I’m not an expert…”

“You know more than most grown witches and wizards do.” Viktor says staunchly. “You’re brilliant Yuuri, I know it.”

“I…” Yuuri swallows. “It’s just charms.”

“Just charms, he says.” Viktor squeezes his hand. “Don’t sell yourself short!”

Yuuri doesn’t answer, but he squeezes Viktor’s hand right back.

They walk in comfortable silence for a while. The ship seems to be mostly empty, most the students down at the school for dinner. Yuuri knows from Mila’s frequent complaints that Viktor has a bit of a bad habit of skipping meals if he’s too focused on a project.

“Have you eaten?” He asks.

Viktor blinks in mild surprise, like he’s forgotten something and just remembered it again. “I suppose not. Have you?”

Yuuri shakes his head.

Viktor frowns. “We should go back to the school then and get something…”

“It can wait.” Yuuri says, cutting him off. “I know a few of the house elves. We can go down to the kitchens later.”

“Oh.” Viktor smiles. “I’d like that.”

Yuuri leans towards his a bit. “Good.”

They’ve reached a door, presumably the one to Viktor’s room or dorm from the way that he’s stopped. Yuuri isn’t sure how it works with his school.

“Do you share with the rest of your _komanda_?” He asks, inclining his head towards the door.

Viktor lets out a peal of laughter. “No, thank Merlin. That would be a disaster. Can you imagine living with Georgi _and_ Yuri?”

Yuuri snickers. “They’d murder each other.”

“No,” Viktor leans out and turns the handle. “Mila would murder them both first.”

Yuuri nods because, yes. That’s fair.

“So you get your own room, then?” He follows, swallowing down nerves, as Viktor steps inside.

“All of the sixth and seventh years do.” Viktor says. “Younger students room in groups of four.”

“Bet Yuri loves that.” Yuuri says absently as he looks around, taking in Viktor’s room. It’s not large. There’s just enough room for a bed, a desk and a chest of drawers. All the space that’s not taken by the furniture or the fall of brightly-colored clothes spilling from the wardrobe is filled with what Yuuri is pretty sure are magical experiments. There are probably a dozen spindly silver instruments sitting around the room, letting out high-pitched hums or puffs of colored smoke at random.

“Er, sorry.” Viktor looks mildly embarrassed. “I..I didn’t really think anyone was coming over and…”

“What is all this?” Yuuri kneels by the closest device and tries unsuccessfully to figure out what it does.

“Magic detectors and other things like that.” Viktor closes the door behind them. “Magical artifacts, you know.”

“What are you doing with them?”

“Your school, it doesn’t have an artificing course, does it?” Viktor sits down on the floor beside Yuuri.

Yuuri glances over at him and shakes his head. “No, of you want to make magical artifacts you have to go to a secondary school after Hogwarts.”

“Hmm, weird.” Viktor says, prodding the device in front of them with his wand. The humming gets a little louder. “Well, at Durmstrang we have an artificing course that you can choose to take your last two years.”

“Do you like it?” Yuuri asks.  
Viktor shakes his head. “Not particularly. It’s a bit like potions, all very slow and methodical.” He sighs. “You can’t surprise anyone with it.”

“Why take it then?” Yuuri frowns over at him. Viktor, he has found, rarely does things he doesn’t want to do.

He looks uncomfortable. “I, ah, it’s a family thing. My parents think it will be useful for me.”

Yuuri bites his lip. “Oh.” He knows a good deal about Viktor’s parents now. But has gotten so little of that knowledge from Viktor himself. It makes his stomach feel hollowed-out and guilty. “I, ah…” He struggles for a second before deciding on what to say. “Do you want to tell me anything about them?”

“Not really.” Viktor says with a shrug that is too stiff to really be called casual. His face is icy and cold, almost unrecognizable. “They’re just my parents. They’re both purebloods and they live in Russia. It’s not exciting.”

Yuuri bites back more questions. He wants to know more about them, since it obviously bothers Viktor, but he doubts that pushing will get him much of anything. “I…why do you go to Durmstrang if you live in Russia?” He tries to change the subject. “I thought they had a wizarding school in Russia…Koldovstoretz, right?”

Viktor blinks. “Your pronunciation of that was almost exactly right.” His blank expression thaws a little and the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile. “Well done, Yuuri.”

Yuuri laughs, self-conscious. “I might have been practicing a bit.” He has, in little snatches before bed when he doesn’t immediately pass out from OWL-induced exhaustion.

“The name of the Russian wizarding school?” Viktor grins.

“Russian in general, actually.” Yuuri can feel his cheeks getting pink. “I…we can’t rely on translation charms all the time, you know.”

The last of the ice in Viktor’s eyes seems to shatter. “I do speak English as well, you know.”

“Oh.” Yuuri feels very stupid all of the sudden. “Good.”

“Thank you for thinking of it, though.” Viktor is still smiling. “I should practice Japanese. That’s your native language, yes?”

Yuuri nods confirmation. “I speak English too, though.”

“Well, good.” Viktor leans against his bed, posture relaxed. “And as for why I didn’t go to Koldovstoretz…” He shrugs. “There were a couple of reasons. For one, it’s always been a fairly small school, so there are certain limits to the curriculum. Muggle Russia also has a historically contentious relationship with people who claim to be wizards.” He flips his wand so it’s flat in his hand and runs a finger along it. “Rasputin and all of that, you know. So it started to be, like, traditional for most rich wizarding families to send their children away for school. Going to Koldovstoretz was sort of like saying it was okay for your children to be in danger from bloodthirsty muggles.” He rolls his eyes. “Can you believe that?”

Yuuri just nods.

“Well,” Viktor closes his open palm around his wand. “It became a tradition for rich families to send their children away for school in Russia. Mila and Yuri are both from Russia as well. I know some Beaubaxton students who are the same.” He shrugs. “It just comes down to tradition, I guess.”

“Huh.” Yuuri moves over to settles beside Viktor, resting his head on Viktor’s shoulder. “I think a lot of things come down to tradition, in the end.”

“Guess so.” Viktor says.

For a while, they sit there together and don’t say anything. The instruments around the room continue to hum and whir softly.

“Japan has a wizarding school as well, right?” Viktor says eventually.

“Huh?” Yuuri’s drawn from the drowsy state he’d fallen into.

“What’s it called? Makoharu?”

Yuuri lets out a little laugh. His pronunciation is atrocious. “It’s called Mahoutokoro, actually.”

“Sounds better when you say.” Viktor says and Yuuri hums, pressing his face into Viktor’s shoulder and closing his eyes.

“It’s on an island.” Yuuri provides, repeating information he’s picked up over the years. “Minami Iwo Jima.”

“Why didn’t you go there?” Viktor asks.

Yuuri doesn’t move from Viktor’s shoulder. “It’s a bit of a long story.” He’s never really talked about it with anyone, not even Phichit.

“I have time.” VIktor says. “If you want to tell me.”

Yuuri swallows and considers for a moment. He doesn’t think Viktor will understand, not being who is, but he wants to tell it anyway. He leans reluctantly from the warmth of Viktor’s body and meets his eyes. They’re a shock to the system, like they always are.

“My mom comes from an old wizarding family.” Yuuri says softly. “If I told you some of their names, you’d probably know them.”

“Oh?” Viktor says.

Yuuri nods. “Yes. But my mom…” He trails off and clears his throat before continuing. “She was never very strong. Her magic, I mean.” He picks at the wooden floor. It’s well-sanded, but he wonders if any students have ever managed to get splinters anyway. “When the invitation to Mahoutokoro was supposed to come for her, there was nothing. She wasn’t good enough, I guess.”

Yuuri frowns at the wooden floor, picking at a seam with a nail, and wonders how to continue. Viktor doesn’t interrupt, just waits for Yuuri to gather himself.

“Hogwarts did invite her.” He says finally. “So she came here and she learned magic. I think the rest of her family was glad that she was out of Japan, honestly.” He sighs and thinks of the pureblood grandparents and aunt and uncles he’s never met. He wants, in a way he knows is childish, for them to look at his mother and at him and Mari and to think that they made a mistake in abandoning them like they did. He doesn’t say any of that to Viktor, though.

“So, yeah.” He shifts his weight a bit, feeling awkward. “My mom married a muggle, my dad, and they opened an inn in a tiny seaside town. And maybe her life wouldn’t be that different if she never went to Hogwarts and never learned magic, but Hogwarts let her. They let her decide what she wanted for herself.”

“So you came here?” Viktor says.

Yuuri nods and looks up from the floor. “So I came here.”

There’s a long moment of silence, broken by the faint whirring and the distant lap of waves against the hull. Yuuri tries not to remember how Nishigori’s and Yuuko’s families had never invited his mother over, how for all intents and purposes she was treated like a muggle, or worse, a squib. It wasn’t fair, it still isn’t. Her magic started weak and never really got stronger, but she could brew a better potion than anyone. She doesn’t deserve how people treat her.

“You know,” Viktor breaks the quiet at last, “I’d like to meet your mother someday.”

“Oh?” Yuuri blinks, surprised. He imagines Viktor in his house, pestering Mari and laughing with his father and chatting with his mother in the kitchen. He imagines that and he aches.

“Yes.” Viktor says decisively. “I would.”

Yuuri dips his head. “I think she’d like you.”

Viktor gives him a smile shaped like a heart. “Really?”

Yuuri smiles back, helpless. “Really.”

**~~~~**

Time seems to speed up as the days creep closer to the OWLs, the third task and Viktor’s inevitable departure. Outside, the stubborn winter is finally sliding into spring. The last of the frost melts away and the watery sunlight that struggles to pierce the clouds becomes warm enough to shed cloaks, gloves and scarves.

“It never really gets warm in England, though.” Phichit complains to Leo and Guang Hong.

They’re sitting on the lakeshore, having reclaimed their usual hangout spot as soon as it became even sort of warm enough. Yuuri is eager to be there, despite the cold bite of the stones he’s sitting on. He’s sure he’s not the only one who was getting antsy after being locked in the castle all winter.

“This is nothing compared to Russia.” Mila scoffs from where she sits beside Sara. Their usual group is bigger today, thanks to the addition of some Beaubaxton and Durmstrang students. Mila and Sara are leaning together, holding hands. Georgi is hunched over and writing something that Yuuri is willing to bet is terrible poetry. Yuri is standing by the water, pretending he’s not with them, and is skipping rocks as angrily as Yuuri has ever seen a person skip rocks. Viktor is beside him, a book open on his lap that he’s not paying much attention to.

“She’s right.” Viktor agrees cheerfully. “One time the Quidditch pitch got so cold that one of our chasers literally stuck to the Quaffle.”

“You’re all ridiculous.” Sara says, pulling her robes more tightly around herself. “Living in places like that.”

“Missing sunny Italy?” Phichit says with a grin.

“Horribly.” Sara sighs. “I don’t think I’ve seen proper sunlight in months.”

“I know you haven’t.” Leo says, equally as mournful. “We never get snow where I live. Usually not rain, either. Just sunny days all year round.”

“Sounds nice.” Sara sighs. “Where exactly in the United States are you from?”

They fall into a conversation about Leo’s hometown and Yuuri leans against Viktor, pulling absently on a loose piece of his hair. “Is it really that cold in Russia?” He asks.

“What?” Viktor seems distracted. “Oh, um, yes. Quite cold. Practically artic, at times.”

“Hmmmm.” Yuuri is drowsy and content, surrounded by his friends and boyfriend. He knows, though, that it isn’t something that can last. The third task is just two weeks away, with the OWLs a week after that and then the end of term a week after those. He has just a month left of this warm, comfortable companionship.

And then, after that, everything is going to change.

The thought of it makes his chest tight.

“Yuuri?” Viktor touches his shoulder. “You okay? You just went tense.”

“I…” He swallows. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Viktor frowns. “About the task?” He keeps his voice quite, obviously trying to give them both a bit of privacy from their friends. Yuuri doesn’t think that’ll be a problem. Leo is loudly trying to explain the finer parts of American fast food to a skeptical audience.

“The future in general, really.” Yuuri admits. “It’s just…everything is going to be different soon.”

“Different doesn’t mean bad, Yuuri.” Viktor brushes his jaw with a thumb.

Yuuri swallows his protests that more than a country will soon be between them, that one of them has to win and one has to lose, that Viktor’s parents will never approve, that Yuuri still has two more years of school, that Viktor is surely going to realize what a terrible mistake he’s making by being with Yuuri…

“Yuuri.” Viktor puts a hand on each of Yuuri’s shoulders and puts some distance between them. He looks Yuuri directly in the eyes. Yuuri is vaguely aware of Phichit and a few others looking over at them curiously, but he ignore it and meets Viktor’s gaze. “I can’t promise that everything is going to be perfect or easy. But…” He seems to be considering his next words, making sure they’re right. “It’s you and me. How could it not be good?”

Yuuri leans forward and buries his face in Viktor’s chest, in his warm maroon robes that smell like the air before a thunderstorm. His worries aren’t gone. Nothing is fixed. But, somehow, he feels better.

He hears some faint cooing from their friends about how cute they are, but then Georgi complains, “How am I supposed to write emotionally charged poetry to get Anya back when I have all of this affection going on? You’re ruining my black mood!”

Yuuri can’t help it. He cracks up, leaning away from Viktor so he can let out great, gasping laughs that threaten to choke him. Around him, his friends are all doing the same. Phichit is flat on his back, a hand over his eyes as he laughs, with Leo and Guang Hong flat right beside him. Sara and Mila are clutching each other and trying not to fall over. Yuri is trying desperately to keep a straight face and is failing horribly, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Even Georgi is smiling now, emotionally charged poetry forgotten for a moment.

They all sit on the lakeshore and laugh and, yes, things are going to change. But Yuuri will always have this moment.

He wipes tears from his eyes and glances at Viktor, who beams back.

He’ll always have this.

**~~~~**

It doesn’t feel real when Yuuri wakes on the morning of the third task.

It’s before dawn, so all of his housemates are still asleep as he slips out of his dorm and into the common room. He’s dressed in the same clothes he dressed in for the other two tasks, magically cleaned and repaired. It was sent to him last night along with a time and place to meet.

It’s almost routine at this point.

He has a few hours before he truly needs to be downstairs, so he lingers in the common room. He writes a letter to his parents and his sister, thanking them for their support.

They wrote a few weeks back, asking if he wanted them to attend the last task. He declined. It would be added stress he doesn’t need, having his family there.

Sara and Viktor both told him they weren’t having family come either. He didn’t ask them for particulars. It felt intrusive.

Regardless, he heads up to the owlery before going downstairs for breakfast and sends out his letter with a school owl. It’s a long flight from England to Japan. It won’t get there for a week, maybe longer. By then, the tournament will be over at last.

After today, he won’t be the Hogwarts champion. He’s surprised at how much that stings.

He never realized how proud he was that the goblet picked him. He was terrified, sure, and scared and disbelieving, but he was proud too. He wanted it. There was always a reason he put his name in that goblet in the first place, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

But today, he does. Today, he walks downstairs to breakfast and he’s filled with fear and with nerves, his familiar companions, but there’s pride too. He’s proud. He wants to do this.

“Yuuri.” Chris smiles at him and slides him a plate of waffles. “Here. Have the second-hottest thing at the table.”

Yuuri sighs. “Is the hottest thing at the table you, Chris?”

“Usually, yes.” Chris says. “But today, just for today, I think the hottest thing at the table is you, Yuuri darling.”

Yuuri isn’t sure if it says more about him or about Chris that he is genuinely touched by that compliment. He decides not to dwell on it and starts in on the waffles.

People stop by all through breakfast, wishing him luck or giving him advice, and he manages to smile the whole way through. His friends stop at the table and stay there. By the time breakfast is over, Phichit is on one side of him, Leo is on the other, Guang Hong is across and Professor Celestino is eyeing them all like he wants to take off points, but can’t bring himself to.

Finally, they all stand and head towards the Entrance Hall.

Yuuri pauses in front of the double doors and turns so he’s facing in the three of them, and, after a moment of not knowing what to say, they all rush to hug him.

“You’re gonna be number one.” Guang Hong says, squeezing him tight. “Count on it!”

“When in doubt,” Leo advises. “Fire. Always use fire.”

Phichit snorts. “Such a Gryffindor.”

Yuuri laughs and tries not to cry. He’s so happy to be here like this with all of his friends.

“I’m gonna win today.” He tells them and then lets go.

“We know.” Phichit says, smiling. “And we’ll be cheering for you when you do.”

**~~~~**

Viktor and Sara are at the meeting place before him. It’s a small tent just a few minutes from the castle, out of sight of the lake and the forest. The weather outside is stormy, the sky slate-grey and the wind whipping and tugging insistently. In the distance, Yuuri can hear thunder rumble.

He shivers and steps eagerly into the tent.

Viktor kisses him on the cheek almost as soon as he walks through the door and Sara grabs him in a hug once Viktor steps away. Yuuri has to laugh.

“This doesn’t seem like ordinary champion interaction.” He says, squeezing Sara before letting go and then moving to quickly kiss Viktor in greeting.

“Ordinary champions can shove it.” Sara settles onto one of the stools sitting in tent. “I like you both too much to be mean and stuff.”

“We can still be competitive though.” Viktor says with a wink. “I, of course, am going to win today.”

Yuuri swallows down his nerves and grins at Viktor. “I think you’re forgetting who’s in the lead, Viktor.”

“Oh ho?” Viktor looks delighted. “Are you attempting to trash talk me, darling?”

Yuuri ignores the way his cheeks heat at the word darling. “It’s not trash talk if it’s true.”

Sara makes a retching noise. “You two are disgusting.”

Viktor leans forward to kiss Yuuri on the tip of his nose. Sara continues to retch.

When the heads of school walk inside, they all seem to stop and try to make sense of the scene before them.

“Um…” Headmistress Minako raises an eyebrow.

“Behave, Crispino.” Headmistress Baranovskaya snaps.

“Vitya.” Headmaster Yakov growls.

All three of them move apart and stand in a straight line in front of their heads of school.

“You’re our best and brightest, huh?” Headmistress Minako says, but she’s smiling.

“Is it time for the task, Headmistress?” Yuuri says, hands clasped behind his back.

“Yes.” Headmistress Baranovskaya answers him. “The third and final task.”

“Once it’s done, we’ll have a winner.” Yakov grumbles.

“So.” Minako grins. “Are you all ready?”

They exchange a quick glance. Sara looks eager. Viktor’s ice-blue eyes are shining. Yuuri takes a deep breath and looks back ahead.

“I’m ready.” He says.

“Of course.” Viktor says.

“Count me in.” Sara beams.

“Okay.” Minako turns towards the door in a swirl of dark robes. “Then follow me.”

Outside, the storm has picked up. It’s raining now, so hard that it almost soaks Yuuri before he can get his wand up and cast a waterproofing charm. Beside him, Sara and Viktor do the same.

They all walk in silence, buffeted by wind and rain, as the heads of school make their way over the hill and towards the lake. Yuuri’s breath catches once the reach the top of the rise. The lake is completely covered in a maelstrom of water, wind and clouds. Yuuri sees some stands a ways back, surrounded by charms if the warm and dry observers are anything to go by.

“The third task is simple.” Headmistress Baranovska says, voice magically loud over the roaring of the storm, “You will each have a boat. We will send these boats out onto the lake. The Champion who manages to keep their boat afloat the longest will win.”

“But, of course, your existing points will count.” Yakov adds, voice amplified the same way. “Crispino, you have the fewest points so you will be sent out first. Five minutes later, Vitya will be sent out. And then Katsuki, as the leader, will be sent out last.”

“And we just have to keep the boat floating?” Sara sounds confused about the simplicity of the task. Yuuri can relate. After an underground maze and deadly monsters hidden behind doors, this sounds too easy.

“With that storm, it won’t be as simple as you think.” Minako says, her voice just as loud, and she hitches a thumb at the swirling clouds. “We’ve released creatures into the water and air too.”

“Well that makes more sense.” Sara sighs and Yuuri feels dread creep down his spine. A magical storm full of dangerous magical creatures...they’ll be lucky to get out alive, let alone uninjured.

“And these boats…” Viktor is frowning and his voice is barely audible over the storm. “Am I right in assuming that they will be trying to sink?”

Minako grins at him. “Well, we wouldn’t want to make it easy for you, now would we?”

“Lovely.” Viktor sighs.

Yuuri reaches over and squeezes Viktor’s hand once, trying not to think about the dark, cold water of the lake. He’s spent hours and hours on the rocky shore during his time at Hogwarts, spent hours looking out into the clear, dark water. He’s more familiar with the lake than anyone, and yet…

“Come on.” Yakov turns away and starts walking towards the lake and the storm waiting for them.

Viktor keeps a tight grip on Yuuri’s hand.

Yuuri doesn’t let go.

**~~~~**

The storm gets worse the closer they get to the lake.

By the time the water is clearly visible, Yuuri can no longer see the stands. He can barely see the heads of school walking a few feet in front of them.

“Well!” Viktor has to shout to be heard over the wind. “This is fun!”

Yuuri laughs, but the wind snatches it away.

They walk the last few feet and then they’re there, on the edge of the lake. It’s probably close to where Yuuri and his friends have sat so many times. Merlin, it could be the exact spot and he would have no idea. Everything looks strange and unfriendly and unfamiliar.

The boats come into view and Yuuri drops Viktor’s hand.

The boats are less boats and more rafts. They’re flat, wooden and have a single mast sticking up with a tiny, colored flag. There’s one with a green flag, one with a red flag and one with a blue flag.

They exchange a glance and there aren’t any more jokes or any more soft hugs or kisses. It’s a competition, one they all want to win.

“Crispino first!” Baranovskaya shouts and Sara squares her shoulders before walking towards the boats. She’s dressed in blue and grey and her hair is braided back into an efficient tail. Her wand is a dark line strapped against her forearm. She glances back at them for a just a moment.

Yuuri nods.

She nods back.

Then, she steps onto the boat and with a tap of her headmistress’s wand, the boat makes its way out into the storm. Yuuri loses view soon and he closes his eyes, trying to center himself.

He runs over waterproofing charms in his head, over floatation charms and charms to breathe underwater. He thinks of all of the aquatic magical creatures they’ve ever studied in defense. He thinks of the wand in the holster at his thigh. He believes in it, in himself. He’s proud of what he’s done. He can do this.

He hears Yakov’s voice. “That’s five minutes. Vitya.”

Yuuri’s eyes snap open just in time to see Viktor walking towards his boat. He looks back over his shoulder as he steps on and says something, but the wind snatches it away and the rain drowns it out.

“Wait!” Yuuri shouts, but it’s too late. The boat is already moving, carrying Viktor away.

Yuuri clenches his fists and watches him go.

Viktor is the strongest wizard of his age. He’s remarkable, really and truly. Yuuri takes a deep breath. Viktor is going to be just fine.

But now there is nothing to distract him from the fact that soon, very soon, he will be in the middle of that storm just like they are. Soon, he’ll be fighting for victory one last time.

“Katsuki.” Minako touches his shoulder. “It’s time.”

He looks at her and he nods.

He’s ready.

He walks forward and steps onto his boat. She taps it with a smile and then he’s sailing out into the seething, writing storm.

It hits his body like a blow.

He gasps and almost falls off of his boat right away, but he snatches his wand and rapidly casts a series of charms. First, he lightens the raft with a swipe of his wand, “ _Gavibus nult_!” Then, he casts the gyroscope charm he looked up after leaving Viktor’s room by pointing at the center of the raft and then at each of the four corners and shouting, “ _Magstedu_!” Then, he tries to calm the storm with a quick, “ _Clarum caelum_!,” but the rain and wind seem to push back against the charm and keep it from working.

Well, it wouldn’t make sense if it was too easy.

The raft is steady now, but he needs to a way to make sure he stays on it. He considers a sticking charm, but quickly dismisses it. They said there would be monsters in this storm. He needs mobility to fight them. So…a tether, then? Some kind of rope…

He grasps the pole in the middle of his boat. It seems sturdy, but he reinforces it with a quick nonverbal charm and then considers the flag at the top. Transfiguring something into something else is easier than just plan conjuration and it looks like the little flag is already hooked up there quite securely.

Yuri’s lessons are on his mind (the snake eating its own tail, everything becoming everything else) as he coaxes the flag from being a flag into being a long, heavy coil of rope.

He’s on his knees as he does it, keeping one hand on the pole for stability. The wind is hitting him as heavily as the blows from the rock monster in the first task.

When he’s finally done, he has about ten feet of heavy rope. The color, though, is the same as it was when it was a flag. It makes him smile, his luridly green length of rope.  
He secures it around his waist with a knot first and a sticking charm second.

Okay, okay. He takes a deep breath and nods to himself. He can do this.

Of course, that’s when the creature leaps from the lake and rams into him.

He nearly pitches into the water, but his tether keeps him steady and secured to his boat. The thing, whatever it is, is scrabbling on the edge of his boat. He can barely see it through the wind and rain and fog smattering his glasses, but there are a pair of curled horns that make him think grindylow.

Grindylows…they went over them for a defense essay earlier that year. They liked to lure wayward travelers and were extremely dangerous to swimmers caught unaware. They were stronger than they looked and being caught by them could be deadly. But how to fight them…

“Ah!” Yuuri remembers and levels his wand at the horrible creature still scrabbling towards him, leaving claw marks and gouges on the wood of his boat. He swipes his wand down viciously. “ _Relashio_!”

The grindylow is thrown back, its grip on the boat broken. The storm is so bad that once it hits the water, it’s dragged down and away. Yuuri wonders what the lake might look like from down in the Slytherin common room, with the water this wild.

He shakes his head, focusing, and takes off his glasses. He can’t be worrying about them getting fogged in this weather. He stows them in his pocket and points his wand at his eyes. “ _Melioculous_!” He shouts and the world swims into clearer focus.

He kind of wishes it would have just stayed blurry.

The water is lashing at his boat, sweeping over his shoes and making his footing on the raft perilous. Merlin, if he falls he won’t just lose. He’ll likely drown on the dark, churning waters. Water that, he’s almost sure, he can see dark shapes moving in.

Okay, one problem at a time. He can win this, he can. He just needs to focus.

He points his wand at his shoes and casts a charm for surer footing. Okay, there’s that bit done.

Next he looks down at the water and, haphazardly, he sends a few more _relashios_ at the dark shapes that he sees. For the most part, they don’t seem to hit anything. But a one or two seem to send dark shapes, likely more grindylows, spiraling away.

He spends at least another five minutes fighting off grindylows and trying to keep his boat stable. Will he know, he wonders, if the other two fall? He can’t hear or see anything beyond this storm. He feels like he’s the only person in the whole world like this, trapped in this prison of cresting waves and screaming wind.

But he has to do this. He’s going to win. He wants to win.

Then something leaps into him hard enough that he almost falls into the black water. He feels his shoulder pop, not quite out of socket, but too far to be normal. He's blinking back tears and stars as he struggles to stay upright. It’s only his tether that saves him, holding strong thanks to Yuri’s countless lessons on transfiguration. Yuuri clutches the tether like the lifeline it is and scrambles to see what made its way onto his boat.

He sees a large, four-legged body and a kelp-like mane that’s green-black and slimy. Yuuri realizes with amazed disbelief that it’s a kelpie. He’s been reading about kelpies with an absent kind of interest since Christmas thanks to the book that Viktor got him. He can’t help it. He starts to laugh.

The kelpie is understandably pissed by his response. It lets out a whinny that sounds more like a scream and advances on him, looking more frightening that a soggy horse has any right to.

Yuuri levels his wand at it. Out of all the creatures that he could have encountered, this both the best and the worse. On one hand, he knows more about kelpies than any reasonable person should. But on the other, he knows just how dangerous and how difficult they are to handle.

There’s only one foolproof way to subdue a kelpie and that involves putting a bridle on it. Yuuri has no bridle and no way to get one, not even if he was confident in his ability to transfigure one. There’s no material for him to use aside from his already-transfigured rope and he needs that.

He clutches his wand and starts the movement for a blasting curse. But then a massive row of teeth seems to descend from the storm itself, clutching the kelpie and swallowing it in two massive bites.

“Well.” He says to himself. “That works.

For a second, there is relief. And then, there is horror. Because the teeth are attached to something and, as the clouds swirl and shift, he can fully see the thing that those teeth belong to. Massive yellow eyes, blue-black scales, snapping, leathery wings.

A dragon.

The kelpie’s gone. But now there’s a dragon. _Super_.

Panic threatens to swallow him as surely as that dragon is swallowing a kelpie. But, no. He doesn’t have any room for that. If he stops to panic, he’ll die. And he doesn’t want to die. He’s going to be Triwizard Champion. He can’t die.

He looks around, trying to figure out how to get away fast. It takes whole teams of experienced witches and wizards to take down dragons. This one is small for a dragon, maybe only the size of a city bus, but that doesn’t mean much. It’s still plenty big enough to each Yuuri is it feels like it.

Yuuri points his wand at the water and shouts, “ _Confringo_!”

The blasting curse has enough strength to shoot his boat backwards. He does it once, twice more, but he can still see the hulking shape of the dragon through the roiling waves and sky.

And then, he breaks through a wall of clouds. And, just a few yards away, he can see two boats holding two other champions.

For a second, he’s struck dumb by the sheer impossibility of finding them both like this. They both look worse for wear, just like Yuuri imagines he looks himself. Sara’s hair is coming out of her neat braid and Viktor is almost completely soaked.

Yuuri, at a loss, raises a hand. They both do the same.

And then the dragon crashes down after him.

He can’t hear his friends over the sound of the wind and the rain and the water, but he’s willing to get they’re swearing as the dragon advances not just on Yuuri, but on all three of them.

Is it a coincidence, he wonders, that they’re all here together like this? Or is it part of the tournament?

Either way, teamwork has served them well so far so he points his wand at his throat and one _sonorous_ later, his voice echoes over the lake when he speaks.

“Together?” He booms.

Two more voices, magically amplified like his is, answer.

“Sounds good to me!”

“Of course!”

And Yuuri grins.

The dragon seems to sense their resolve because it roars and flaps it wings, coming in closer. Yuuri swallows the fear threatening to drown him and squares his shoulders. “We need to aim for its wings!” He shouts. “Get it out of the air!”

“Good plan!” Viktor agrees and raises his wand. He drags it in a motion Yuuri doesn’t recognize and yells a spell he can’t make out. He watches as a layer of ice gathers on the dragons wings. It keeps aloft, but roars in protest. It’s tail slaps the water just a few feet from Viktor, making his boat rock and wobble.

“Damn!” Viktor snarls. “Yuuri, Sara! Keep it distracted, I’m trying to transfigure the ice into stone!”

“Got it!” Sara raises her own wand. “Confringo!” The explosion glances off the thick scales, but the dragon shifts its gaze from Viktor to Sara.

Yuuri keeps his own wand raised, determined to keep the dragon off Viktor, and throws a few stinging jinxes towards its eyes. None hit their mark exactly, but it gives Viktor the time he needs. His circular wand-motions still and the dragon’s wings stop moving. It crashes into the water and, despite trashing attempts, it can’t get airborne.

It thrashes in the water and sends a massive wall of waves up and up, so high up that Yuuri knows they’ll all be knocked off of their rafts and into the water if it hits. It’s coming too fast and he’s not ready, but…

But Sara is.

“ _Glacius tria_!” She shouts, wand held aloft. The charm explodes out of her wand, stopping the wave of water in a huge, icy wall before it can crash down on them.

Viktor follows it up, shouting, “ _Confringo_!” The wall explodes and boulders of ice fall towards the dragon. Only a few manage to hit their target, but they’re large enough that the dragon screams in pain and flares its wings, angling towards the sky.

Yuuri knows they only have moments until it flies again and any advantage they have is lost. So he points his wand at it and he doesn’t think about how he’s bad at curses or about how he doesn’t believe in magic. He doesn’t have time for any of that.

He just swipes his wand and screams, “ _Expulso_!”

And with a massive, violent explosion the dragon is thrown back. Yuuri can hear Sara and Viktor throwing their own spells towards the dragon and, briefly, he hopes that any damage they do won’t be too bad. With luck, they’ll just drive the dragon off.

A gust of wind batters him for a moment and his eyes narrow against it. When he opens them fully again, the dragon is rearing up between the waves. He aims his wand at it and, with a panicked, hitching breath, he shouts out for another explosion curse.

And then, it crashes down into the water. A massive, towering swell billows out from the place where it fell. It’s so much water, so much that Yuuri knows it will hit them all as hard as the dragon had. The swell reaches high and then higher and he doesn’t have the time or energy for another spell to stop it. Yuuri grabs onto the pole at the center of his boat and points his wand at his shoes. He shouts a sticking charm and he hopes that it will be enough.

The wave hits.

For a moment, he feels like he’s in another world where it’s cold and dark and quiet. The water pulls at him with greedy, terrible fingers, but the charm stays and his rope stays. His shaking, terrified hands stay clutched around the pole.

He stays steady.

He glances over at the others. Sara is less steady, but she’s still on her boat, if only just.

He looks over just in time to see as Viktor, a few feet closer to where the dragon had plunged into the ocean, is knocked back and pulled down by the wall of water.  
Yuuri glances at Sara, kneeling on her raft and barely hanging on, and then at the dark, seething water.

And, well.

Between Viktor and riches, fame and eternal glory, there’s not much of a choice.

Yuuri redoubles the sticking charm on the rope around his waist and releases the one on his shoes. If his charms hold, it’ll keep him tethered to the surface. If not...well. He’d rather not think about what’ll happen then.

He casts a wordless bubblehead charm and, stowing his wand in the holster strapped to his thigh, he dives.

The water hits him like a wall, icy and unforgiving.

Yuuri half-expects the storm to die now that two of the champions have fallen and there’s a winner, but it keeps on raging. Yuuri grits his teeth and dives. Somethings don’t subside easily.

He can barely see in the water. It’s dark and choppy and he’s buffeted this way and that until he can’t tell which way he’s even supposed to be swimming. There are things in this water too, grindylows and kelpies and, Merlin forbid, a very angry dragon.

But he has to do this. He has to be brave. This is for Viktor.

He swims down and he can see, just barely, a glint of silver.

He keeps swimming, gasping for breath, and finally he reaches Viktor. He wraps his arms around the other boy’s middle with the hand that isn’t holding his wand. He casts a bubblehead jinx on Viktor, but he’s still far too pale and there’s a bleeding cut on his temple.

Yuuri can’t tell if he’s breathing and their isn’t a way for him to stop and check.

He needs to get to the surface, he needs to get out of the water.

But the water is shoving at him and the storm is still raging and he can’t even tell which way he’s supposed to be swimming.

There’s no up, no down, nothing. They’re going to die in this storm, him and Viktor both. Viktor is too heavy and his bubblehead charm is failing and he doesn’t know which way he’s supposed to go. Which way is he supposed to go?

He just needs to find the way.

And with that thought, he knows what to do.

It’s funny that this one spell will be the one to, once again, save him. He doesn’t even remember the upperclassman who taught it to him. It was just an exasperated person who didn’t want an eleven-year-old going around and shouting their password at walls.

And now, Yuuri raises his arm and, as hard as he can, he thinks the words.

_VIAM INVENIRE!_

The gold spools into the water like thread laced with ink, glowing and billowing and laying a clear path up, up and out of the water.

Yuuri grips Viktor tighter and he swims towards the faint hint of light.

**~~~~**

Hogwarts is having another party.

And, for a second time, Yuuri is lying in the hospital wing instead of attending.

“You’re making a habit out of this, Yuuri.” Phichit sighs from where’s fluffing up Yuuri’s pillows.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Yuuri yawns. He’s sleepy, thanks to the combination of the warmth of the room, the softness of the blankets and the pull of the pain potion he’s been given. Sun is winding in from the high windows, the light yellow and syrupy. The storm must have broken when he was sleeping.

“I know.” Phichit nods, seemingly satisfied with his pillow-plumping. “There.”

“Thanks.” Yuuri mumbles, burrowing deeper into his blankets. “You’re the best.”

“I know.” Phichit pats him on the head. “You can repay me by not performing any more death-defying stunts, all right?

Yuuri lets out a hum of laughter, letting his eyes slip closed. “The tournament’s over, Phichit. I don’t think it’ll be a problem any longer.”

“Well, good.” He pats Yuuri on the head one more time. “Do you want me to stay or go?”

“Same as last time.” Yuuri manages to say past another massive yawn. “Go and tell me what the outfits look like.”

Phichit laughs. “Understood.” He stands to go, but stops by the foot of Yuuri’s bed. “Oh, and the Triwizard Champion sends her regards. She says she’ll be by to see you both when the party winds down a little.”

“It’s her party.” Yuuri points out. “For her victory. She should stay.” He tries not to sound bitter because, really, he isn’t. There were two choices and he would always make the one that he did. Still. He’s not happy about losing the tournament. He doubts anyone would be happy about it.

Phichit lingers by Yuuri’s bed for a moment longer. “You know…you could have won.”

“No,” Yuuri glances over at the bed beside his, where Viktor is sleeping in a mess of silver hair and striped pajamas. “I really couldn’t have.”

Phichit smiles. “I guess you’re right.” He turns to the door and tosses over his shoulder, “I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll bring Leo, Guang Hong and the Durmstrangs with me.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you then, Phichit.” Yuuri says and he sinks back into the pillows. He stares at the ceiling for a while, the stones and wooden rafters, and catalogues the aches in his body. His shoulder is bruised from where the kelpie rammed him and his lungs hurt from almost drowning, but really the biggest problem is exhaustion. He’s just so tired.

“You should be sleeping.” A hoarse voice seems to echo his thought.

He blinks and looks over at the only person who could have spoken. “Viktor!”

Two lazy blue eyes and a sheepish smile greet him. “Hi, Yuuri.”

“I should call someone…” Yuuri says. “You’ve been unconscious since the task.”

“There’ll be time for that later.” Viktor’s voice sounds terrible, full of grit and rough edges. “Ah, how long has it been since the task, then?”

“Almost two days.”

“Merlin.” Viktor slumps back in a mess of silver hair.

“Yeah.” Yuuri agrees quietly. “Everyone was worried.” He bites his hip. “ _I_ was worried, Viktor.”

For a beat, there’s quiet.

Then, Viktor speaks. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

“I…” Yuuri looks back up at the ceiling.

“Even though it cost you the tournament, you saved me.” Viktor says and there’s something disbelieving in his voice.

“Yes.” Yuuri says plainly. “I did.”

Viktor’s quite for a second, his throat visibly working. Then, in a strangled voice, he asks, “Why?”

“Viktor?” Yuuri blinks in confusion and looks back over at him. “What do you mean?”

“You could have won.” To Yuuri’s astonishment, his eyes look wet. “Before I fell, Sara was struggling to hold on and you were fine. If you would have stayed on the raft…”

“Viktor, you could have died.” Yuuri reaches out a hand towards Viktor, but his hand can’t bridge the gap between their beds.

“But you gave up so much and I…” Viktor looks stricken. It makes Yuuri’s chest hurt to see him look like that.

“You’re worth that much.” Yuuri says. “More than that much. So much more.”

Viktor reaches out with a shaking hand and closes to space between them, lacing his fingers with Yuuri’s. His hand is warm.

“I think I might be in love with you.” Viktor says with tears still in his eyes and all of the warmth in the room seems to dissipate. Yuuri feels abruptly and totally cold.

“You don’t love me!” Yuuri drops Viktor’s hand and clambers his way into a sitting position even though it makes his shoulder twinge. “We’ve only really known each other for a year and we didn’t even talk for like half of it!”

“Fine, I might not _love_ you.” Viktor concedes, wiping away his tears. “Not yet.” Yuuri’s mouth goes dry at the look on his face. “But I know I _like_ you. And I think I could. Fall in love with you, I mean. And I…I want to, Yuuri.”

“You…” Yuuri blinks.

“Could you love me?” Viktor asks. “Someday, I mean.” Yuuri just stares at him and he laughs self-consciously, his cheeks flushing, “I’m sorry, I just realized what an outrageous question that was! I mean, asking about love when you’re lying there like that and I just…”

There are still a few tears left in his eyes.

“Viktor.” Yuuri cuts off his babble. “Of course I could. I mean, I’ll probably fall in love with you whether you want me to or not. You’re just…” He shrugs, helpless. “You’re you, Viktor. How could I not?”

“Yuuri. Thank you.” Viktor smiles through his tears and grabs Yuuri’s hand, squeezing so hard that it’s painful. It hurts, but not enough to keep Yuuri from squeezing back.

**~~~~**

The Great Hall is empty.

Above, the sky is vast and blue, scattered with puffy white clouds. The floating candles are unlit, unneeded to light an already lit hall.

Yuuri Katsuki stares up at the vast, clear sky and he sighs.

He’s sitting on at the very end on the Slytherin table by himself, more out of habit than the actual need to sit at his assigned table. He runs a finger along the polished wooden surface and breathes.

Everything that he needed to do is done. He finished his OWLs the day before yesterday. The Hogwarts Express leaves in the morning. It’s almost time to go home, for this year to be over.

He’s not ready for this day. He’s always known that it would come, but still.

He’s not ready.

A loud creak makes him turn around as the doors to the hall swing open. For a minute, the figure standing there is backlit by the bright day and the features are impossible to make out…but then Yuuri’s eyes adjust and it becomes clear.

“Yuuri?” Phichit is standing there, a sad smile on his lips.

“Is it time?” Yuuri asks.

Phichit nods.

Yuuri gets to his feet and wipes his hands on his robes. He’s not ready for this, but…well. He was the Hogwarts Champion. He’s faced harder things.

“Okay.”

They head out to the lawn together, not speaking at first. The day is warm, a soft breeze gently rocking the trees in the distance.

“Yuuri?”

“Yeah Phichit?”

“I’m proud of you.”

Yuuri finds himself smiling even though he doesn’t want to. Phichit has always been good at making him smile. “Thanks.”

They make their way down to the edge of the lake where most of the school is already standing. Leo and Guang Hong wave when they spot Phichit and Yuuri. Phichit goes and stands next to them, but the crowd parts for Yuuri and lets him pass. He walks forward, taking in the faces of the gathered Hogwarts students.

Chris lets out a wolf whistle. JJ Leroy winks. Sungil looks generally disapproving. Yuuko and Nishigori both grin at him, Nishigori’s grin much more teasing than Yuuko’s. Yuuri’s Slytherin housemates nod stoically.

Not a single one of them looks angry.

Yuuri breathes deep and, after a minute, he smiles back. He’s so proud to have been their champion.

But, then, he’s through and he can see what’s beyond. There are two groups standing there, one in red and one in blue, and Yuuri isn’t ready to see them go yet.

“Yuuri!” Sara runs up and hugs him hard. She looks so happy, her smile incandescent.

“I’m going to miss you.” Yuuri says, hugging her back hard before letting her go. “You…I’m really glad you’re the one who won, Sara.”

She laughs. “Me too!” Her purple eyes are sparkling. “I’m glad I got to meet you, Yuuri Katsuki.”

“Yeah.” He smiles. “I’m glad I got to meet you, Sara Crispino.”

“Write me.” She says and it’s not a request. “I’ll come and find you if you don’t.”

“I wouldn’t dare to disobey the Triwizard Champion.”

“Triwizard Champion, huh?” She beams. “I think I like the sound of that.”

She takes a step back, closer to her school and the carriage waiting to take them away. She’s one of the best people that Yuuri’s ever met. Eternal glory is probably just right for someone like Sara Crispino.

“Yuuri?” Someone taps him on the shoulder.

He turns to see Viktor standing there. He’s got a smiling mouth, but sad eyes. Yuuri knows the feeling so he wraps Viktor in a tight hug and doesn’t let go for a long time. A few people wolf-whistle and a few more giggle, but Yuuri just keeps holding on.

“It’s not forever, you know.” Viktor’s voice is a low rumble in his ear. “We will see each other again.”

“I know.” Yuuri says and tries to make himself believe it.

Viktor squeezes him tightly and then lets him go, taking a step back. “Come on.” He extends a hand. “Other people want to say goodbye to you, yes?”

Yuuri takes his hand and lets Viktor lead him to the other Durmstrang students. They’re all clustered on the lakeshore, dressed in their familiar maroon robes. Before Yuuri can do much more than just look, the smallest, blondest one stomps forward and pokes him in the chest with a finger.

“If you start to suck at transfiguration again, I’ll kill you!” Yuri glowers. “Stupid pig!” He turns away, face in his hands.

“Yuri…” Mila is looking at him in disbelief. “Yuri, are you crying?”

Yuri screeches at her to shut up, covering his eyes with a hand and muffling what are obviously very angry tears. Yuuri moves to hug him, but Yuri shoves him away and proceeds to angry-cry even harder. It’s a disaster and Yuuri cannot look away.

“Yuuri.” He reluctantly tears his gaze away from Yuri to look back at Viktor. His ice blue eyes are warm. “It’s time.”

Yuuri’s chest hurts. “I know.”

Viktor touches his cheek and then lets his hand drop. Yuuri smiles. For a moment, they just stand there, inches between them, and Yuuri breathes.

“I meant what I said back in the hospital wing.” Viktor murmurs after a moment. “I do want to fall in love with you, Yuuri.”

“I…” Yuuri hugs him tighter. “Yeah. Okay. Me too.”

“Really?” Viktor hums, sounding pleased.

Yuuri nods and clutches at his robes. “Really.”

“Good.” Viktor leans down and kisses him once, firm and warm and perfect, before letting him go. He steps back and Yuuri has to stop himself from following after his warmth.

“See you soon?” Yuuri says and it comes out like a question even though he doesn’t mean for it to.

Viktor, though, just smiles. “Yeah.” He says. “I’ll see you soon.”

Viktor has to run to catch up at the rest of the Durmstrang students filing onto their boat. Yuuri watches as they disappear and, when he looks over to where Sara was, he sees that the Beaubaxton students are all inside of the carriage. It’s really here. They’re leaving.

Yuuri stands there on the shore, a little away from the rest of his school, and watches as the boat sinks and the carriage is towed off by a team of massive and terrifying horses.

The carriage gets smaller and the boat gets fainter and then, without much ceremony at all, they’re nearly almost gone.

A hand falls on Yuuri’s shoulder. It’s steadying.

“You okay?” Phichit asks, squeezing his hand once.

Yuuri shakes his head. “No.”

“Will you be?”

Yuuri wipes his eyes, trying to clear away the tears so he can catch a last glimpse of the ship and the carriage before they disappear. “Yeah.” His voice is rough, but steady. “I will be.”

**~~~~**

The tree in the Katsuki’s back garden still snows sometimes, despite Yuuri’s best efforts to negate the charm that was his first bit of magic. He sighs and leans against the trunk, glad for the shade it provides. Summer has come to Japan in full now. Yuuri closes his eyes, feeling the sun on his face and listening to the overwhelming buzz of cicadas.

He’s been home for nearly a month now, away from Hogwarts and the tournament and all of his friends.

There are letters from Sara, Mila and Yuri open on his desk that he’s been meaning to reply to and a bunch of texts and snapchats from Phichit and Leo on his phone. He’s not really away from them, not in the ways that really count.

It helps to remember that when things get hard.

“You know,” A voice makes his eyes blink back open, “I never think about how much that tree has grown until I see you under it.”

He smiles. “Hi Mom.”

She smiles right back. “Hi Yuuri. Can I join you?”

He nods and she walks over to sit beside him under the branches of the tree. A few flakes of snow drift lazily into her hair. He reaches over and brushes them away. She thanks him with a laugh.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the day and each other’s company.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” She says after a while.

“Mom?” He glances over at her. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing bad, don’t worry.” She pats his hand. “I just wanted to tell you that I got a letter from your grandfather yesterday.”

Yuuri freezes. “Dad’s dad?”

She shakes her head. “No, dear. My father. He wanted, well, he wanted to congratulate you on you accomplishment. On coming second in the triwizard tournament, I mean.”

“Oh.” Yuuri’s not really sure what to say to that.

His mother won’t meet his eyes. “They haven’t contacted me since I married your father. But I think they want to meet you and speak to you about some opportunities for your future. The letter mentioned that you would be able to transfer to Mahoutokoro and stay with them next summer if you would want to.”

Yuuri feels his stomach swoop. He’s gotten acknowledgement from the family that his mother was never good enough for. It should make him pleased. Instead, it just makes him angry.

“Why would I ever want to go with them?” He snaps. “They…they’ve just ignored you and all of us for _years_.”

“Yes, I know.” She still won’t look at him. “But they’re an influential family. They could give you training and chances to meet important people. They could give you the things you need, Yuuri!”

His anger fades.  

“Mom…” Yuuri reaches out and grabs her hand. He squeezes it, hard. “You’ve given me everything I ever needed.”

“But you would have had so many more opportunities,” She says and she looks sad in a way he recognizes from his own bad days. “You would have been able to learn so much more about magic from someone besides me…”

“Anyone could have taught me magic.” He says, speaking slowly so he’s sure the words come out right. “You taught me more important things that that. A lot of them.”

“Yuuri…”

“So thank you.” He reaches over and he hugs her. “For everything.”

For a moment, she is tense. But then she relaxes and hugs him back.

The sun is warm on Yuuri’s shoulders.

The cicadas drone loud in his ears.

“I’ll stay here.” He says. “For as long as you’ll let me.”

The laugh she lets out in response may be tearful, but it’s real.

“This will always be your home, Yuuri. Always.”

**~~~~**

Yuuri’s skating alone in the local ice rink, enjoying the cool air as a relief from the blistering summer outside. He still has over two months until he goes back to Hogwarts, to his friends.

This time, he doesn’t dread it.

He’s spinning on the ice, making up routines he’ll never perform for anyone, and getting lost in his own head like he always does when he skates.

He’s gliding absently, a hand spread out in front of him towards an imaginary audience, when a voice makes him pause.

“Yuuri!”

It’s a familiar one, but he can’t say he recognizes it immediately. Yuuri slowly turns back towards the door to see who’s calling him.

There's a boy standing there with a fall of silver hair and impossibly blue eyes. He’s beaming, eyes so warm despite their cool blue color.

For a moment, Yuuri feels frozen with disbelief.

But then, he smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay that’s the end! :D sorry this last chapter took so long to get out…shoutout to the usb keyboard I hooked up to my laptop to finish this badboy once my actual keyboard broke. Also shoutout the the Adventure Zone soundtrack because that is all that I listened to while writing this, no joke. Also shoutout to everybody who commented and was patient with me while I finished up. This chapter is for all of you! 
> 
> I’m actually pretty proud of this one. I think it came together pretty nice, even if it did take a billion years to get it all finished. Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed reading it.
> 
> This is probably my last yoi fic (at least for now)! if youre part if the boku no hero fandom, come and join me there~
> 
> And if not, ill see you all next level :) 
> 
> tumblr is [right here](http://noodlefriend.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> yuuri katsuki is a slytherin and i will fight everyone who disagrees
> 
> but seriously...i know this isnt the first hp au for yuri on ice (or even the first triwizard one, gomen) but this idea stuck in my mind and wouldn’t let me go, so here we are!
> 
> also im sorry for the lack of viktor and yuuri interaction in this chapter! things will pick up next time, i promise! not sure when that update will be...but it will feature the first task, so look forward to it! 
> 
> im [here](http://theroadgoesawayfromhere.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!


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